Look Before You Seek
by Ocytavia
Summary: Minnie is a girl from Australia who's family is transfered to France. She is send to Kadic, where she discovers her room mate, Aelita, is hiding a big secret.A Yumi Ulrich Minnie love triangle, with an Odd Aelita Jeremie love triangle. Sorry about the end
1. Chapter 1

Look Before You Seek

Chapter 1

Minnie sighed as the small airplane touched down in France. It had been a long trip from Australia, and Minnie was very tired. She had been very emotional about the move, and had been very snappy at everyone._It's bad enough that we have to move to France, _Minnie thought, glowering out the window. _But I have to go to a boarding school too! How could they have been so mean!_

If you have ever had to move, then you may know how hard it is to leave your friends behind, but if you've ever moved to another country, where people don't even speak the same language as you, then you'll know exactly how she felt. But it wasn't as though Minnie was completely clueless. After all, she had been doing French for 5 years, and her parents had hired a tutor to teach her the language and year prior to traveling. Minnie was actually very fluent in French.

_It's not like we're even going to be in Paris _she thought gloomily. They were going to this remote city in France that she had never heard of, and she couldn't even pronounce it, let alone spell it.

Her father had been transferred to France as a promotion, as he was to manage the production of the new company line in France. _Some promotion,_ Minnie had thought. Minnie's father was an architect, and the trip had been company paid. The new school that Minnie would now be going to had even been chosen by the company, all expenses paid.

Minnie already missed her best friend, Kira. She said that she would write back to her as soon as she got to France, with her new address and all. "Don't worry, dear," Her mother had said.

"You'll make new friends." But Minnie didn't want to make new friends. She wanted to keep the old ones. She didn't want to live in a place that she had never been to before, she wanted to go back home.

Minnie and her parents waited outside the airport for their taxi, which had been hired by the company. It was very noisy at the airport, and there was a lot of commotion, but Minnie just fixed her gray-blue eyes on the horizon until their transport came.

Minnie didn't say a word to her parents fort the entire trip. Her parents were to busy talking to the cab driver to notice anyway. "Look, Minnie This is your new school," her father said as they pulled into the car park of Kadic boarding school.

Minnie just grunted.

**Please Review**

**Thanx.**

**OcyTaviAh **


	2. Chapter 2

Look Before You Seek

Chapter 2

Kadic boarding school looked drab and boring, but Minnie didn't even seem to notice. It was as though she had tuned out of herself ever since she left for France. It was as though her body had gone to France, but she had left herself in Australia. Nothing seem real, it was like some strange dream that she would never wake up from.

Her parents led her to the front office, where they met the Headmaster of Kadic.

"I'm sure that Minnie will be very happy here," said Mr. Delmas. (In French) "It has the finest educational values in the whole..." Mr. Delmas continued on with his boring speech about Ksdic's fine facilities, whereas Minnie had completely zoned out and was now looking at her shoes with extreme fascination. Her brown curly hair had fallen over her face, so nobody could see the boredom in her eyes. In fact, it seemed as though the Headmaster and her parents had forgotten that she was even there, until her mother said;

"Who will she be roomed with?"

At this remark, Minnie raised her head. Up until now she hadn't thought about who she would be roomed with. She didn't even know that she would be roomed with anybody, for that matter. Minnie started to worry.

_What if I'm roomed with somebody who I don't get along with? _She thought. _What if I have to be roomed with a lot of other girls in one, small room? _She thought. _What if there is NO room? What if I'm roomed with a boy? DO they even allow that? Surely they wouldn't, would they?_Minnie was getting more and more worried by the second.

"She will be roomed with Aelita Stones. I believe you will have the same lessons as her, so she will show you around. Since you are new from Australia, you will attend two extra lessons on French a week. Your room number is 124. You should be alright finding it by yourself." Minnie nodded. "Well, you may say goodbye to your parents here before going to your dormitory. Here is the key. You can start your lessons tomorrow, " he said, handing her a small key with a large key chain, which had the numbers 124 on it. He then turned and left.

"Goodbye dear," said her mother.

"Bye mum," she replied.

"Bye Minnie Min," Said her dad. Minnie Min was her fathers pet name for her.

"Cya dad." She said with a small smile. It was the first time she had smiled since she had come to France. "I'll miss you guys."

Minnie waved as her parents left, then she hurried down the hall to find her room. It took her nearly half an hour to find the section with the door numbers in the 100, but she found her dorm eventually.

The door number was 124. She silently slid her key into the lock and turned it. She opened the door to find the dorm empty of people. In fact, it was pretty empty of things altogether. There were two beds, one with pink covers, and one with white sheets. She assumed that the white bed was hers, so she quickly dumped her bags on it. She then sat down on the bed and took a deep breath, resting for a minute. She checked the time, 2:30 pm. _Aelita would still be in lessons. _She thought. _Well, no point sitting around all day. _She thought as she got up to put her clothes away and do up her bed. _Good thing I brought my own covers,_ she thought, as she started re-making her bed.

Minnie had two sets yellow sheets and quilt covers. Her mother had even made her pack her own pillow and quilt. Her mother also told her to wash her quilt once a week, so it had been labeled. Minnie loved the colour yellow. She had yellow everything. Even her favorite cuddly toy (which was a little bear called Sunshine) was yellow. She had many clothes, but, surprisingly, not many of them were yellow. She had once told Kira that it was because "Yellow didn't suit clothes." Yellow is also very hard on the eyes, and some shades of yellow can be quite nauseating. The only yellow clothing that she had was a faded yellow skirt that reached down to her ankles, and a bright yellow and white striped singlet.

Minnie had just been putting away the remainder of her clothes in her cupboard, when she heard voices outside. She could hear the voices moving steadily towards the door, and stopping just outside. She wasn't able to decipher the words of the conversation, but she could hear one of the voices more strongly that the other.

Not wanting to be caught eavesdropping, Minnie quickly grabbed a book and started reading, perched nervously at the foot of her bed. She was trying to concentrate on her favorite book, 'Inkheart', but was finding it harder than usual, and kept repeating the same line over and over. She was trying to concentrate on her favorite book, 'Inkheart', but was finding it harder than usual, and kept repeating the same line over and over.

To Minnie, it seemed like the voices outside where going to stay just outside forever, and it seemed like Minnie was going to be repeating the same line from her favorite book again and again until she was seventy. But, finally, after what seem like decades to Minnie, but what was in actual fact only five minutes, the door was open.

"Bye Jeremie," Said a soft, quiet voice.

"Goodbye Aelita," Said the voice supposedly belonging to Jeremie.

The girl Minnie assumed to be Aelita turned around with her eyes closed, and leaned on the closed door. Minnie thought that Aelita was quiet a pretty girl, and she seemed kind, but she had the strangest hair Minnie had ever seen. It was pink. At first, Minnie just assumed she had dyed it, even though it seemed kind of a bit over the top to dye her whole head pink, but as she looked closer, she saw that her eyebrows were pink too. Also, the roots of her hair were as pink as the rest of her hair, which was exceptionally strange, because roots usually show th true colour of hair.

Aelita opened her eyes, and took a sharp in-take of breath to see a stranger sitting in her dorm, starting at her with a fascinated expression on her face.

"Who are you?" Aelita asked in a shaky voice. "What are you doing in my room?"

"I'm Minnie," Minnie said. "I'm new here, and Mr. Delmas told me this was my dorm. Are you Aelita?"

"Yes," Aelita replied, looking a bit calmer. "Yes, I'm Aelita. I remember Mr. Delmas telling me about you. Your Minnie, right?"

"Yes. I'm from Australia." Aelita looked shocked.

"From where?" She said,looking flabbergasted.

"From Australia. You know, largest island in the world." Minnie knew that Kadic was a good school, but she was seriously doubting this students intelligence.

"But... But I thought Australia was just a huge desert. I didn't know anyone lived there!"

"People do live there," Minnie assured her. "And it's not all desert."

At this point there is a bit of an awkward silence. I cannot stress how uncomfortable this silence was, as some pain cannot be expressed in words, but have to be experienced to be understood. If you have ever been in a similar situation, I am sure you are familiar with how it may feel.

"So..." Aelita said. "Good book?" She motioned towards 'Inkheart'.

"Yeah, actually, very good. Do you read much?" Minnie asked.

"No, not really," Aelita said. "I'm more into computer stuff."

"Right."

At this point, there is another silence, which is just as awkward as the last. Once again, if you have been in a similar situation, you will know how it feels. This silence didn't last long before Minnie spoke.

"Do you know where the bathroom is?" Minnie asked.

"Yep, it's just down the hall."

"Thanks," Minnie said. Aelita just gave a small smile.

When Minnie returned to her dorm, Aelita was gone.

**Please tell me what you think. Any idea's/ advice/ comments/ corrections will be gladly noted and taken into consideration.**

**Thanx**

** OcyTaviAh **


	3. Chapter 3

Look Before You Seek

Chapter 3

Minnie sat down and started to read again. But before long she began to think. She wouldn't let herself think about her friends or her home back in Australia, no, that would be to painful. Instead, she thought about the school. It seemed pretty big. She glanced out the window, wondering.

Just outside her window, she saw a cluster of trees, almost like the woods from the fairytale that she loved to read. Minnie wanted to have her own special place, where she could be alone to think, to read, and to write...

Minnie's first passion was reading. She would take her special book-bag where ever she went. It had all of her favorite books in there, such as 'Inkheart', and 'The Dragon Keeper', as well as a few of the classics, such as 'Peter Pan', and 'Cinderella'.

Minnie's second passion was writing. She could weave words to create new worlds, and with a pen in her hand, she could unlock a marvelous tale. But she had only ever completed one story, and it was only 21 pages long. It wasn't really what she could call a story, more of a short story. Most of the stories she started had never gotten past the prologue or the first chapter.

Minnie's third passion (and this might sound rather silly to you) was thinking. Yes, thinking was a passion to Minnie. She could spend hours and hours thinking about one thing or another, unraveling the mystery's of life, or something as little as wondering why they didn't make 1 cent coins. Thinking as a passion.

Minnie needed her own special place. Back in Australia, she would go to the park and sit on the grass, or climb up a tree. It would have to be somewhere outside, because that's where she felt the most connected. As Minnie looked down at the tree cluster outside her window, she knew that it would be the perfect place for her.

She looked at the clock. It was 5:45. Mr. Delmas had told her that dinner was served at 6:00, but Minnie didn't feel hungry at all. She grabbed her yellow book-bag and stuffed a pen and notebook inside, along with all of her reading material. She walked quickly towards the door, opened it, and quickly rushed out.

She was very surprised to see the hallway crowded full of people, all heading in the same direction. They were all making quite a lot of noise, and Minnie wondered why she hadn't heard them earlier. Minnie guessed they were all heading down to the dining room. Staying very close to the wall, she shuffled and nudged her way through in the opposite direction.

As she bumped and squeezed past people, she was given poisonous looks from some people, but others just ignored her completely.

"Hey, watch it!" Cried a squeaky voice. A girl with long dark hair stared at her with mean looking eyes. Minnie imagined that they would be the eyes of one of the self-absorbed evil witches in her fairy tales.

"I'm sorry," Minnie began, but the girls expression had suddenly changed.

"Ulrich, darling!" She cried, rushing towards someone further on in the crowd.

"Get away from me Sissi" Minnie heard 'Ulrich' reply.

Not wanting to stick around until the wicked witch 'Sissi' came back, she quickly made her way through the crowd. She eventually made her way out the other side, gasping for breath.

By the time she had regained her posture, the hallway was deserted. After looking around for anyone, she quickly made her way to the fire exit, which was the only exit nearby. She didn't worry to much about the noise, as when she opened the door, the only sound was a faint bleep.

Once outside, Minnie started to run towards the trees. Minnie sat down under a tree and lent her back on the trunk. She took out her book and a penlight and started to read. She needed the penlight as it was starting to get dark.

She hadn't been reading long before she heard voices. Voices and footsteps. They were coming closer and closer. Minnie quickly stuffed her book back into her bag and crouched behind a bush, as she didn't want to be discovered.

As the voices came closer, she was able to make out some of the words.

"When was the tower activated?" Asked a voice.

"Has X.A.N.A.s attack started yet?" Asked another.

"I don't know, but we have to get to the factory quickly. Ulrich, call Yumi and tell her to come to the factory now. We'll need her help."

_Ulrich? Wasn't he that guy in the hallway before? What's X.A.N.A.? _Minnie had a million questions running through her mind.

And then, a horrible thing happened. Minnie had always had very bad hay fever. She takes very strong medication to prevent it, but she still has a few loose sneezes here and there. And that's what happened. The voices where very close, and she could hear feet just inches away from where she was hiding, and she sneezed. And it wasn't just any sneeze, it was a very loud sneeze.

The footsteps stopped, as did the voices.

"Jeremie," Asked a timid voice. "Do bushes usually sneeze?"

Minnie panicked, not knowing whether to run away, or just stay there hopping that they'd just go away, or whether to ask them for a tissue. She was frozen in fear.

After a few seconds, Minnie heard footsteps coming towards the bush. She shut her eyes tight, grabbed the crucifix around he neck and prayed like there was no tomorrow.

"How much did you hear?" Said the voice she had heard in the hallway earlier. He used the exact same tone of voice too. Minnie sniffed.

"Nothing," she lied. She knew that lying was wrong, but she didn't seem to have much of a choice.

"Stand up," Ulrich commanded. Minnie stood up obediently.

"Minnie?!?" Aelita cried in astonishment.

**Chapter 3 finished. What did you think? Please review.**

**Thanx**

**OcyTaviAh **


	4. Chapter 4

Look Before You Seek

Chapter 4

"Minnie?!?" Aelita repeated.

"Wait," Ulrich began. "How do you know her?"

"She's my new room mate," She said to Ulrich, and he nodded. "What are you doing here? Why aren't you at dinner?"

"Well," Minnie said, almost in tears. "I wasn't hungry, and I needed to be by myself."

"But... But you had the whole dorm to yourself!" Aelita looked flabbergasted.

"I needed a place," she replied, tears now running freely down her cheeks. "You wouldn't understand." Minnie looked at the ground so that the group wouldn't see her tears.

"We need to find out what she knows," she heard Ulrich tell the others. "What if she goes to the principal?"

"Have you forgotten, we can do a return to the past?" said Jeremie. "Now leave her and call Yumi. We need to get to the factory." The group started to walk away. Minnie quickly dried her eyes.

"Wait!" She cried. "I want to come." The group turned back to her.

"She won't be any help to us in Lyoko," said a scrawny boy with a strange hairstyle.

"Odd!" The other three cried.

"She already knows enough as it is," Jeremie added.

Minnie ran up to them. "I'm still coming," she said.

_Wow, she's as stubborn as Yumi, t_hought Ulrich.

"Jeremie, if we let her come, then a trip to the past might not erase her memory,"  
Aelita said warningly. "And what if she gets virtualized?"

"You can't come," Jeremie said to Minnie.

"Well, I am anyway, because your wrong. I can come, you just don't want me to. But I don't really care what you want, because I want answers!" Minnie was now yelling at this stage.

Jeremie turned to Ulrich. "Call Yumi," He said again. "And you," he said, turning to Minnie. "You don't have permission to come."

"What, and you do? I don't really care, I'm coming."

"It's too risky. You could get seriously hurt." Jeremy seemed as though he really didn't want Minnie to come.Just then, Ulrich came back to the group.

"Bad news," He said. "Yumi's not answering her phone. We're going to have to go without her."

"Let me come," Minnie insisted. "Let me come to make up the numbers."

"Can you fight?" Ulrich asked.

"Umm, I don't know."

"Well..." Ulrich said, considering. "Odd didn't know how to fight when he went to Lyoko..."

"Hey," shouted Odd. "I can fight."

"I think we should let her come," Ulrich said. "To... To make up the numbers."

"Okay," said Jeremie. "But I just don't think it's a very good idea."

"Yeah, but if I remember correctly , you thought that using my Kiwi as a guinea pig to test those machines was a good idea," Odd said. "I mean, does Kiwi _look_ like a guinea pig to you?" Odd laughed, obviously thinking that his joke was hilarious.

"Who's Kiwi?" Minnie asked as the group started to walk off again.

"Kiwi is my dog," Odd replied.

"I thought dogs weren't allowed at Kadic," Minnie said.

"They're not," Ulrich said. "But Kiwi could pass off as a giant rat anyway." Aelita giggled slightly at this.

"Hey," Odd cried. "That's not funny."

**Chapter 4 finished. Please review. Won't continue until at least 3 reviews.**

**Thanx**

**OcyTaviAh **


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you for Commenting!**

**AussieUlrich- Australia is both an Island and a continent. If you actually look up the definition of an island, it will say something along the lines of "Land surrounded by ocean/sea/water." You may have the science, by I have the Geography. Look it up. By the way, I have the science too, my dad is a SCIENTIST! Thanks for Commenting! Keep reading. **

**Chelsea B- No, I will not make you a character in this story, and no, I will not pair you with Ulrich, but I may included some romance in this story. **

** LyokoWarrior12- Here is the new chapter for you, and thank you for reviewing.  
**

**ON WITH THE STORY! **

Look Before You Seek

Chapter 5

"Wow," Minnie exclaimed, getting her first look at the super computer. "It's looks like something out of a Sci-Fi novel." Minnie wasn't really all that interested in Sci-Fi, but she had read a couple.

"Yeah, but this is real," said the blonde boy that Minnie heard the rest of them call 'Odd' .

When the group first led Minnie to the factory, she was completely amazed. It was as though she had fallen into one of her adventure novels, sneaking around an old, abandoned factory. Unfortunately for Minnie, the group had ran all the way to the factory. Minnie hated running. No, she loathed running. In fact, she was starting to wonder whether she should just forget about it and go back to her dorm. That was, until she saw the factory.

Minnie was exhausted by the time they reached the factory, although it had not taken long to get to. As she stumbled inside, all of her exhaustion faded away, and in it's place came excitement and motivation.

The group swung down opes that looked old and unsteady. Minnie slid down them anyway, ignoring the rope burn she received by doing so. The group was still running, but Minnie didn't mind so much now, as she felt as if her story had really begun.

And now, looking at the super computer, Minnie felt slightly out of place. It was like she had fallen into a story in which she didn't belong. Everything inside of her told her that something wasn't right about being there.But Minnie ignored these feelings, as she had always wanted to be part of a story with a happy ending. So far, all of hers were sad.

"Take her to the virtualization chambers," Jeremie said, typing furiously into the super computer. "Hurry, I'm not sure where X.A.N.A. has launched the attack yet. quickly, you have to deactivate the tower."

So Minnie ignore the feelings inside of her, and acted on her true desire of being part of this story, even if she wasn't suppose to.

The virtualization chambers looked less impressive than Minnie had imagined, but it didn't disappoint her that much, because she had no idea where she was going, or how this new story would end. Odd, Ulrich and Aelita stepped into the strange tubes that were the virtualization chambers. Minnie stepped cautiously into the one nearest to her.

"Transfer, Odd!" Jeremie shouted from his post at the super computer.

"Transfer, Ulrich!" He shouted again.

"Tansfer, Aelita!"

"Scanner, Odd!"

"Scanner, Ulrich!"

"Scanner, Aelita!" 

"Scanner, Minnie!"

"Virtualization!"

Minnie was surrounded by a blazing yellow light and an intense wind from beneath her, blowing her hair straight up. Then, the light was gone, and she saw nothing for a few moments, then she was falling...

She landed with a thud on ground that looked as though it was covered in grass, but felt as hard as rock. Minnie got up slowly, and looked at the others in amazements.Not only did they seem to be in a forest where trees hung in mid-air, but all of their outfits had been modified too!

Aelita looked very much the same as she usually did, but Ulrich had turned into somewhat of a samurai. Odd, on the other had, looked like a giant purple cat. Minnie looked down at herself, and was a bit disappointed to see that she was wearing something that she would normally wear. (Although, what Minnie would normally wear would most probably be nothing like what you would normally wear.) She was dressed in a long skirt down to her ankles and a frilly, sparkley top. She wore no shoes, and her hair was done strangely, in fact, she resembled a gypsy, more or less.

"Jeremie," Ulrich said out loud. "Can you give us the coordinates for the tower?" Minnie wondered why Ulrich was talking to Jeremie when he obviously wasn't here. She was surprised to hear Jeremie answer.

"It's about 2,000 feet north. But hurry, we don't know what X.A.N.A.'s up to!"

Ulrich, Odd and Aelita had already started running again, so Minnie followed them. After a short time, She heard Jeremie call out again.

"Look out," He said. "You've got company."

Suddenly, three walking cubes advanced quickly towards the group, all coming from different directions. _Wow, that's really strange _Minnie thought.

Each cube had a strange logo on it that made no sense to Minnie, but she didn't have to much time to ponder over it. The one she had been examining had just shot at her. Minnie screamed as she lifted her hands, as though she could use them to block the attack.

Apparently, it turned out that she could. When her hands had flown up to block her from the attack, it had created a large, yellow deflective shield that bounced the shot back at the cube, destroying it. Minnie looked at her hands, amazed.

The rest of the group was in momentary shock too, until a cube zapped at Odd, narrowly missing him. They then when immediately back into battle mode.

"Minnie," Ulrich shouted to her. "Protect Aelita. She's the only person who can deactivate the tower!"

Minnie nodded and got into a position in front of Aelita, bringing up her yellow shield again. It looked much smaller than it did before, but it was still as effective as ever.

Minnie fended off the attacks at Aelita as Ulrich and Odd destroyed the other cubes with their abilities. Now, it would be quite hard and confusing to try and describe how the battle went, so I may, at time, simply ask you to imagine it in your own mind.

As soon as the walking cubes where destroyed, the group started running again. The tower was very close now. Minnie thought it looked like quite a strange tower, as it was white, covered in weed looking things at the bottom, and had red smoke surrounding it. Yes, this did really seem like one of her storybooks indeed.

As they got closer, Minnie was surprised to see no door. They were extremely close now, close enough to touch it. Aelita went into the tower, through the wall. Minnie was so shocked she was speechless.

Suddenly, without any warning, huge wasps came buzzing towards them. Odd started shooting at them with something on his paw. It was a strange sight. Ulrich was distracting them by speeding in a circle and break-neck speed.

"Thanks for the warning, Jeremie," Odd said, shooting furiously at the giant wasps.

"Sorry, but the just appeared on my screen, they didn't come from anywhere."

It suddenly occurred to Minnie that Jeremie must be watching from the super computer back in the factory. Minnie didn't even try to understand how something like that could work, as she knew she would just give herself a headache. Computers just weren't her thing.

Odd hit one of the huge wasp things and it exploded. Minnie was getting really into this virtual world stuff by now, so she punched the air in triumph. This action caused a strange glowing yellow orb to shoot from her fisted hands and straight into a wasp, destroying it. Once again, Minnie looked at her hand, amazed.

She didn't have much time to ponder on the matter, though, as the world around them seemed to be disappearing. Suddenly, Minnie found herself back inside the tube/ virtualization chamber. She stepped out, feeling dizzy.

"So," Odd said to Minnie, looking slightly worn out himself. "How did you like your first trip to Lyoko?"

**Okay, Tell me what you think. I would like to read you reviews soon! **

**Thanx!**

**OcyTaviAh**


	6. Chapter 6

**Thank for Everyone that Reviewed.**

**Funkismything- I can't let on much about the romance in the story, but there will be some later on, so you will just have to wait.**

**LyokoWarrior12- Thank you once again for your Review! Keep reading! **

**ON WITH THE STORY!**

Look Before You Seek

Chapter 6

Minnie woke up the next morning feeling incredibly excited. She was the kind of excited that made her want to jump around and squeal, however immature it might be to do so. She also had butterflies in her stomach. Personally, I think that it is rather strange that they give such a pretty name for a horrid feeling in the pit of your stomach. I, myself, would describe the feeling as having slugs squirming in the tummy. But I will leave it up to you to make up your own mind.

It seemed that Minnie had completely forgotten about her sadness and self-pity, and had turned a new page into excitement and adventure. Gone where her doubts, her worries, forgotten. This girl who had wallowed in the past for a short time had turned a new leaf and looked to the future. For the first time since she had left Australia, she giggled for no reason.

Back in Australia, Minnie had hung out with her friends and laughed. In fact, her friends found it quite strange and rather scary, as her laughing fits would sometimes last such a long time. But, eventually, she started to rub off onto her friends, and they laughed too, although not as much.

Minnie had always classed her fits of laughing as a disorder or a disease or a disability. So, to make matter easier, she was said to have T.L.D. It stood for The Laughing Disorder/ Disease/ Disability. Minnie was often bracketed under the disorder column. Anyone who started laughing insanely afterwards was considered to have the disease, which usually spread rather fast. Very few people had the disability, as Minnie said that it would be the condition someone who had been through some sort of trauma and would laugh insanely to hide hat they were really feeling. Her friends often wondered if this was the case for Minnie as well, as she seemed to know a lot about the matter.

So Minnie lay there early that morning, smiling at nothing and randomly giggling despite herself. It was 5:30 in the morning. Minnie had slept soundly that night, but had woken early, as the sudden time change had obviously affected her sleeping patterns. Minnie considered herself more of a morning person, but even she didn't rise as early as 5:30. But, she was awake, and did not feel in the least bit sleepy, so she got out of bed.

Aelita was still asleep, which was no surprise. Minnie quickly and silently made her bed, then considered getting dressed. She would need a shower first, a people might hear the shower turn on. Eventually, she decided to take the risk. She grabbed her clothes and headed silently to the showers down the hall.

She turned the water on cautiously. She suddenly realized that it was a very bad idea, but it was to late now. The water pattering against the tiles made a echoing sound around the empty shower room. Minnie showered very quickly, trying her hardest not to make to much noise. She then dried and dressed. Minnie wore a green skirt down to her ankles, and an blue t-shirt with turquoise studs on it. After yellow, her second favorite colour was green, as she felt very connected with nature.

Minnie silently crept back to her room, Literary thanking the Lord that no-one had woken. If you have not guessed already, Minnie was a Christian. In fact, she was a very devoted Christian, in her own way, although she hadn't gone to church or youth gatherings in nearly 2 years. Her Christian faith was very deep, but I will not go into the reasons why she will not go to church anymore, as it is a long and complicated tale, and it is not the tale that I am telling you now.

By this time, it was nearly 6:00, and it had begun to get light outside. Minnie grabbed her book-bag and left again. She went straight to the woods, though she was quiet about it and did not use the fire exit, as it was much quieter than it was the other night, and people would defiantly become suspicious.

So, Taking the long way around, Minnie went to the forest and wandered. As Minnie wandered through the trees, she thought. And, although it may be obvious to you, I will explain what she was thinking about. She was thinking about Lyoko. Although she didn't know all that much, as the information she had obtained had been scattered through conversations at random, like some strange form of a scavenger hunt for words, then putting the words together like a puzzle. It was too much to try and desirer inside of her head, so she sat a began to write.

(Now we will check on Aelita)

Aelita woke with a start. She had cold sweat running down her back and her face, leaking into her eyes and making them sting. She had been dreaming of something. It had been about something horrible, but for the life or her, she couldn't remember what.

She checked the time. 7:00 am. _Well, _She thought. _This is as good a time as ever to get up. _Even though she usually woke half an hour later, Aelita knew that she would have no hope falling back to sleep again.

Aelita felt like she needed a nice, long shower. She grabbed her clothes, and was about to head out the door, when she remembered Minnie. She thought that she should probably wake her. She was very surprised when she saw Minnie's bed empty, and it was made as well. Aelita wondered what time she had gotten up, and why she hadn't heard her.

Aelita started to feel slightly dizzy, as all the thoughts in her mind came whizzing past in one big wave. She reached out and held the end of her bed for support, but the strange feeling had stopped as quickly as it had started, maybe a bit faster. Aelita took a few breaths to calm herself. She then took up her clothes again and headed for the showers.

A while later, she met Odd, Jeremie and Ulrich down at the lunchroom for breakfast. Aelita had assumed that Minnie would also be here, but she wasn't. In fact, Aelita was starting to become more than a little worried.

"Hey," she said, coming over the their table with her food. "Have any of you seen Minnie?"

"No," Jeremie answered. "Why?"

"Well, when I got up this morning, she wasn't there." Aelita's voice sounded unsteady

"Relax," Odd said. "She probably just got up early. Nothing to worry about." Odd was very easy going.

"But she isn't here either. I thought that she might at least have come for breakfast." Aelita's voice still took on a worried tone.

"Maybe she wasn't hungry?" Ulrich suggested. Odd snorted at this comment.

"But," Aelita started. "I haven't seen her eat anything since she got here!"

"Maybe she's fasting?" Jeremie said.

"For what?" Odd said with a laugh.

"Well, she could be fasting for religious reasons," Jeremie said to Odd.

Odd seemed appalled at the idea. "You mean that some religions stop you from eating! That's not right."

"I don't know," Aelita said, still worried.

Aelita needn't have worried. Nothing had happened to Minnie. She had just lost track of the time and forgotten her stomach. Aelita spotted her when she walked into her first lesson, and let out a sigh of relief. She was going to ask her where she had gotten to, but the bell rang, and the class begun. It would have to wait.

**Please review this chapter. More will be coming soon. Sorry about the slow updates!**

**Thanx!**

**OcyTaviAh**


	7. Chapter 7

Look Before You Seek

Chapter 7

The bell rang, and all the children left their classrooms in a hurry. Break-time didn't last very long, and they wanted to make the most of their time. But Minnie was the last one to leave her classroom. She had concentrated so deep into her work, that she had quite a lot of mess to clear up. She wasn't the most tidy or organized person.In fact, she took so long to gather her things, that the teacher asked her to lock the door and turn out the lights when she left.

Eventually, about 8 minutes after the bell had rung, Minnie left the classroom. Aelita was waiting outside. She had grown bored waiting for Minnie, so she let her thoughts drift elsewhere. She must have been quite bored waiting, as she didn't even notice when Minnie came out. Luckily, Minnie wasn't lost in thought, (Which was actually very surprising, as Minnie is usually lost in thought)so she did notice her new friend leaning on the wall, staring into space.

"Hello?" Minnie said, waving her hand slowly in front of Aelita's face. Aelita shook her head as she came back to reality.

"Minnie," she gasped out. "What took you so long?" She tried to sound stern, but it was hard for Aelita to do so, as she had such a soft, quiet voice.

"I just take a long time," she told Aelita. "Why were you waiting?"

"I wanted to ask you something," Aelita replied as they started away from the classroom.

"Well," Minnie said. "What did you want to ask? It seems I'm the one asking the questions anyway!" Minnie smiled to herself, finding the irony rather amusing.

"Well," Aelita started, warily. "I wanted to know where you disappeared from this morning, and why you weren't at breakfast."

"Oh," Minnie said, looking down. "Well, I got up early, and I went out to do some thinking. I must have lost track of the time and missed breakfast. But I'm feeling rather hungry now." Just as the words left he mouth, a loud grumble came from her stomach.

"You could probably get something from the vending machines," Aelita said. "But we'd better hurry, break only goes for another 10 minutes."

"That's okay," Minnie said, patting her tummy. "I'm a fast eater."

Aelita showed Minnie to the vending machines, where the rest of the group, including Yumi, were chatting. They grew quiet as Minnie drew closer.

For the first time, Minnie got a good look at Yumi. She was pretty and tall. She looked a good year older than the rest of them, and she was eying Minnie suspiciously. Yumi was Asian. Minnie thought she looked Japanese, although she couldn't be sure.

"I should probably just go and get something to eat," Minnie said quietly to Aelita, who nodded.

As soon as her back was turned, Minni could hear them whispering. Her ears burned as she put money in the slot and chose her food, as she could tell they were talking about her.

Now, Minnie couldn't hear the conversation that the group had about her, but I will tell you, as it will help the story make more sense.

"Who's that?" Yumi whispered to the rest of them as soon as Minnie's back was turned.

"That's Minnie," Aelita said so quietly that Yumi had to lean closer to hear her. "She's my new room mate."

"Yeah," Ulrich whispered to Yumi, slightly frightened about what her reaction would be when he told her what he was bout to. "She kind filled in when I couldn't reach your phone last night."

"She went to Lyoko?!?" Yumi whispered louder than she should have, loud enough for Minnie to her. Minnie pretended as though she hadn't, but she could feel her face growing hotter.

"Calm down," Ulrich said, although he should have known better.

"Calm down?!?" Yumi's eyes portrayed her anger.

"Yumi, it just kinda, happened," Aelita said, not knowing how to explain.

"Yumi, it was a spare of the moment decision, and she was there," Jeremie said.

"Yeah," Odd agreed, and then he added, "You should see her powers it Lyoko. She's like some sort of wizard or something."

"Actually, Odd, it's a sorceress," Jeremie said, just before Yumi stormed off.

"Yumi," Ulrich called, as he started to follow her. But the bell went and there was nothing he could do.

Minnie walked with Aelita to their next class.

"Yumi doesn't like me very much, does she?" Minnie asked anxiously.

"It's not that she doesn't lie you, she's just stubborn and a bit upset that we didn't tell her about- hey, where did your food go?"

"I ate it," Minnie said simply. Aelita was giving her a strange look, so she said, "I told you I was a fast eater!"

**Please Review! **

**More Updates Soon! **

**Thanx! **

**OcyTaviAh**


	8. Chapter 8

Look Before You Seek

Chapter 8

To the others in the group, it was obvious that Yumi was angry. But what they didn't know was that Yumi was, in actual fact, furious. She was furious at Minnie for taking her place last night, for _replacing _her. She was furious at Odd, for making it seem like she was better. She was furious at Ulrich, for accepting Minnie so quickly. She was furious at Jeremie, for trying to make her see reason, and she was furious at Aelita, for being okay with all of it! In fact, she was furious with all the Lyoko Warriors (Minnie included) for not discussing it with her.

It was like they expected everything to be fine with her. Yumi was glad that she was in a separate class from the rest of them, as she didn't think she could stand being in the same room as all of them at that moment. Suddenly, a horrible thought occurred to her; _Maybe they don't want me in the group anymore. _Had they replaced her? I mean, she was a year older than everyone in the group. Maybe they thought it would be easier to have someone their own age? Maybe it was because she lived at the school, and she would be easier to reach in case of Lyoko emergency's.

Yumi thought of all these situations and more, not doing any work at all, which wasn't good, as she was suppose to be finishing her essay on volcano eruptions for geography. When she finally snapped out of it, she realized that she only had 5 minutes to complete a 500 word essay, and she was only 250 words into it. Luckily for Yumi, her geography teacher liked her, so she was able to get an extension with a few carefully chosen words.

Then the bell rang again, for lunch this time. Yumi had made up her mind to avoid the group altogether. She grabbed a lunch tray and lined up to get her food. Todays lunch was hot dogs, also called _rot dogs _by the younger students, who thought it was hilarious. It was a well known fact/ rumor to the students at Kadic that the canteen used bread and buns that had not been sold in the bakery about a week prior to being served on students lunch plates. Still, it was filling, and its wasn't that bad, as long as you ignored the crunching sound the bread made when you bit into it.

Yumi had noticed that Ulrich, Odd, Aelita and Jeremie all sat in the same table, with Minnie nowhere in sight. She had got her lunch, and was considering heading over to them, when Minnie walked into the lunch room. Yumi glared at her, but Minnie didn't notice. She had her nose stuck in a book,reading. It was quiet a thick book, and she couldn't see the title from where she was standing. Minnie seemed to find her way by her own personal radar that she had developed over the years. She didn't line up for lunch, but instead she sat down at the table and unpacked a lunch of some strange salad, packed in one of those Tupperware boxes.

Yumi stood for a few moments, staring, wondering where to go. There was only one empty table, and it was right next to the table where the rest of them were. She started desperately looking around for another table, when Odd got up for his second serving. Well, Yumi assumed that it was his second serving, but she could never be too sure with Odd.

"Hey, Yumi! Over here!" He shouted, waving furiously at her. Ulrich, Aelita and Jeremie were also staring at her, but Minnie was not. She still had her head buried in her book, eating silently.

Yumi saw she had two choices, either she left the Lunch room, throwing her food in the trash, or she went and sat with her supposed friends. Yumi's stomach growled. She knew she couldn't wait until dinner for something to eat, so she decided to go and sit with them.

"Hey," Ulrich said as she sat down.

"Hey," She said, not looking at him.

"Yumi, we're sorry about before. We were to tell you..." Yumi was ignoring him. "Yumi," He tired again, with a strong tone, forcing Yumi to look at him. "You have to know that the only reason we took her to Lyoko was because you weren't there. She was in the forest during dinner, and she overheard us, and then she followed us. She didn't give us much of a choice." His voice had changed into a softer tone, and his eyes looked into hers pleadingly.

"Whatever,"said Yumi, starting to eat. Ulrich sighed and gave up. Yumi was just to stubborn.

Minnie, however, had been pretending not to listen, pretended to read her book, but she wasn't. She was eavesdropping, although it was rather hard not to when they were practically talking to her ears.

She had heard the way that Ulrich had talked to Yumi, and the only time she had ever imagined a character speaking to another like that was when the character cared very much for that person. It was clear to Minnie that Ulrich liked Yumi quite a lot. At that moment, she may have assumed that he may even love Yumi.

There was silence on the table, until Odd came back with more food and started talking about this and that, like Odd did. Minnie had lost how many servings Odd had had during that lunch time, but she had finished her lunch.

She started packing up her things, except her book, which was the English version of 'Inkheart', her favorite book. Of course, the others in the group couldn't even read the title, let alone know the story.

"I'll see you guy's later," she told them, walking away.

"Where are you going?" Asked Yumi, faking curiosity.

Right at that moment, Minnie felt like saying mean things to Yumi. She wanted to yell at Yumi to try and make her see it her way. But of course, she knew that it wouldn't work, and that everyone would think she was a freak, so she didn't.

"I'm going to read," Minnie answered instead, with her back still turned. She knew that she hadn't really told them where she was going, but they didn't really need to know. I'm sure you and I could work out that she was going to the woods to read. She needed to do something to relax her nerves. She could feel Yumi's negative energy pulsing to her, and all of the negative feelings had been shared. She knew that she had to get away from Yumi before she did something that she would regret later.

Yumi seemed rather glad to see her go, although she still didn't feel as though she could trust the rest of the group. After all, they had gone and done this without even letting her know. She was still angry, but with Minnie gone, she was no longer furious.

"Yumi," Ulrich said when she'd finished her lunch. "Can I talk to you, outside?"

"Yeah, fine." Yumi was acting calm, but everyone could feel the anger inside of her, pulsing off her, making them want to be angry too.

Once they were outside, Ulrich turned to Yumi and said, "She doesn't have to come back to Lyoko, you know. She doesn't have to go again if your not comfortable with it." Yumi was looking everywhere but at Ulrich.

Ulrich forced her to look at him. "But it isn't about Minnie, is it?" He asked, looking her in the eyes.

She shook her head.

"You just felt betrayed because we let her come to Lyoko, aren't you? It could be any other person, and you'd be just as angry."

"Yes, I would," Yumi said, almost yelling. "In fact, I would probably be more angry. But it's not about who it is, but it's about what you did. What all of you did! You just let someone into Lyoko! It's suppose to be secret, not a club! You can't just let people join in!" Yumi was breathing very heavily by now.

"Yumi, I know that we shouldn't have, but we can't do anything now. She's already been to Lyoko." Yumi was now looking at her shoes. "Yumi, I'm sorry."

Ulrich could almost feeling her angry and hate melting away, and he was now left with a sad vibe pulsing from Yumi. He felt like hugging her, but he knew that he probably shouldn't. Yumi wasn't a touchy-feely person.

**Does that answer the romance question for you? There you go. **

**Review. **

**Sorry about the short chapters, but you should see the chapters on my sisters Fanfiction. They're about a paragraph and a half long! Sorry, I'm babbeling. **

**Thanx!**

**OcyTaviAh **


	9. Chapter 9

**Spirit Of Ryuu- Sorry, but I have very strong opinions about staying true to the storyline, and Yumi is included with that, as well as Yumi and Ulrich and whatever chemistry they have. Thank you for reviewing!**

**ON WITH THE STORY!  
**

Look Before You Seek

Chapter 9

Later, that very same day, Jeremie was in his dorm, typing furiously into his computer, trying to find cure for the virus that X.A.N.A. had given Aelita. Aelita was in her own dorm, studying. Odd was in his dorm, doing whatever Odd does, and Minnie was out in the wood, reading the final chapters of 'Inkheart' for the umpteenth time.

Yumi was with Ulrich in the gym, watching as others tried to learn the fighting skills the Jim was poorly teaching them. Ulrich was trying to talk to Yumi, but he could tell she wasn't listening. He was just making awkward small talk, but he might as well have been talking to the wall, for all the reaction he was getting out of her.

"Ishiyama!" Barked Jim. "Stern! Your up. Show the rest of these pansies how to fight!" Annoyed at the insensitivity the coach had shown, Ulrich got into position.

He must have been quite annoyed, because when Yumi attacked, he hesitated. The first blow knocked him to the ground. He sat, stunned for a few moments, before jumping back to his feet and concentrated. He had to forget about his problems, or he would lose concentration. But this was easier said than done. He received several blows and many knocks to the ground.

Yumi, on the other hand, seemed to be enjoying herself. After all, she was still angry at him, and beating him at this made her feel slightly better about herself.

After the fighting session in the gym, Yumi and Ulrich would usually join the others in Jeremie's dorm for a while. But today, Yumi didn't really feel like seeing them, so she headed straight home. Unfortunately for her, Ulrich caught her before she reached the school gates.

"Yumi," he called when he was close enough. "We need to talk." he was saying words between puffs.

"No, Ulrich. I'm just going to go straight home," she said, trying to get around him when she could only see his shoes.

"Yumi, please come. We all have to talk to you. To apologize."He smiled at her, but she didn't see. She only saw his shoes.

"Will Minnie be there?" Yumi finally asked.

"No," Ulrich said, although he wasn't really sure whether she was or not.

Luckily for Ulrich, Minnie wasn't there. She had gone to her extra lesson of French tutoring, although she didn't need it.

When Ulrich opened the door to Jeremie's dorm, there was an eerie silence, as though they had all stopped talking all at once.

"Hi Ulrich," Yumi heard Aelita say to Ulrich as he walked in. He mumbled a reply, and Yumi didn't hear what he said.

Aelita seemed shocked when Yumi followed Ulrich into the room. "Yumi, I didn't know you were coming!"

"Yeah, hello to you to," Yumi said, trying to hide her hurt feelings with sarcasm.

"Yumi, I didn't mean it like that," Aelita said apologetically. "But I thought you were angry at us."

"I am," Yumi replied bluntly.

Ulrich walked over to Jeremie, who was at his computer, as usual. "Anything new happening?" He asked, trying to break the tension in the group.

"No. No activated towers, nothing." Jeremie sounded strangely disappointed, as though he had nothing to do when the world was safe from X.A.N.A.

"And that's a good thing, right?" Odd asked, giving Jeremie a strange look.

"Yes, it is. I never said it wasn't." Jeremie's lack of sleep was starting to show through his emotions. Also, he was yawning quiet a bit.

"How's the anti-virus for Aelita coming along?" Ulrich asked, trying to sway the conversation away from a topic that could end badly.

"I'm making progress, but I still can't be sure of anything until it's tested, and right now, it's to risky to take that chance." Jeremie said all this, still staring at his computer, typing codes madly into his keyboard. The only other person in that room who might have been able to understand the codes was Aelita, as the rest of them knew almost nothing about working codes into computers. Unless control-alt-delete was considered a code, they were clueless at how to work it.

Minutes past, and the group was mostly silent, except Ulrich, who was circulating, trying to start a conversation with small talk. It wasn't a horrible, awkward silence, just a silence. Yumi checked the time.

"Okay guys. Well, this has been great, but I've got to get going now. Bye!"

"Bye Yumi," Called the rest of the group as she walked out. She was surprised to see Ulrich follow her out.

"Can I walk you to the gates?" He asked, slightly embarrassed about the situation.

"I'll be fine," Yumi said to him, suddenly finding the floor very interesting. She started to walk away, but Ulrich followed her. She went a few steps, before spinning around to face him, looking him in the eyes.

"Why are you following me?" She asked, as though he was a complete stranger. Ulrich's eyes kept moving from one of her eyes to the other, as though he couldn't decided which to focus on.

"Yumi," he said pleadingly. "What will it take for you to forgive me?"

"I don't know, Ulrich. I don't know if I can." At that, Yumi walked away slowly.

"Yumi," he called after her, but she didn't turn around. He wanted to tell her. He wanted to tell her how he felt, but he wasn't even sure of what he felt. He wanted Yumi to understand how he felt about her, but he didn't understand himself.

So, he sighed, he bit his tongue, and he went back to Jeremie's dorm where the others were.

**Soz, another short chapter. Oh well. Please Review.**

**Thanx!**

**OcyTaviAh **


	10. Chapter 10

**OddObsessed- Thank you for commenting. Don't worry to much about Ulrich, cause somethings going to happen to change everything soon. Well, maybe not everything, but it'll be a change. Keep reading!**

**ON WITH THE STORY! **

Look Before You Seek

Chapter 10

"So, those blocks on legs are called Bloks?" Minnie asked Aelita that night, and Aelita nodded. Aelita had been trying to explain he basics of Lyoko to her, and she was starting to catch on.

"And there are other monsters, like Creepers and Hornets, but I haven't seen them yet." Again, Aelita nodded.

"Can you list them?" Asked Aelita, quizzically.

"Bloks, Creepers, Hornets, Krabes, Mantas, Megatanks, and Krank... Krank-somethings."

"Krankrelats," Aelita corrected her, trying not to laugh. "You missed one, though. Tarantulas. But, it was pretty good. Can you describe the monsters?"

"Well," Minnie said, slightly nervous. "Let's see. Well, The Bloks are giant blocks on legs that shoot from that weird symbol, the Megatanks are giant balls that open and these giant discs expand from them. Umm... the Creepers look kinda like a snake, except they have two legs and shoot from their mouths, And the Hornets are like some weird mosquito, and they shoot from their tails. The theres the Krankrelas, who are small and shoot from the red dot that could be like an eye, and the Krabes are like giant crabs, they are the biggest and strongest, and they shoot too. The Mantas are usually only found in sector five, but they can be found in other sectors, and they also shoot, but they fly too, making them slightly harder to kill. And there's the Tarantulas, who are like spiders with four legs, and they shoot from their legs. And I think that's it," Minnie said, feeling rather proud of herself.

"There's also one more monster," Aelita said, hesitantly. "But it doesn't attack you or any of the other, only me. It's called Scyphozoa, and it looks like a huge, transparent squid. It sucks the memories out of me."

"Oh, how horrid!" Minnie was shocked. "Why would it want to suck your memories away?"

"Because X.A.N.A. wants them. It's part of his master plan to escape from Lyoko and the supercomputer."

"Excuse me for asking, but who's X.A.N.A.?" Minnie had heard the others talking about it, but she was yet to know what it was.

"It was a program created by Franz Hopper, the man who created the supercomputer and Lyoko. He's also my father." Aelita paused to take a deep breath. "He virtualized me and himself into Lyoko to hide from people who were after him for creating X.A.N.A., but X.A.N.A. turned on him. He's still trapped somewhere in Lyoko, but he did help us to decode his diary, to help find a cure for the virus that X.A.N.A. gave me. X.A.N.A. is the one that activates towers to make attacks on earth to get to me, so that he can be free of the supercomputer." Minnie was nodding, trying to take it all in, but it was a lot of information to absorb in one night.

"Right, I think I got it now," She said, yawning. "I think I might go to sleep now. Good night."

"Goodnight,"Aelita said to Minnie as she turned the light off and climbed into bed.

Minnie had trouble sleeping that night from all the information that she had consumed all in one day.

Aelita had trouble sleeping, too, but not for the same reason. She was worried about the Yumi. Yumi was her best friend, and they were her only friends, and they had betrayed her. Aelita couldn't think of any way to put this right. They needed Yumi to help them fight in Lyoko, but maybe she thought that they had replaced her? Aelita shook her head at this thought. They could never replace Yumi, they needed her too much. But there was nothing Aelita could do for the moment, and she eventually feel asleep.

Unfortunately, it was a restless sleep, as she had a nightmare that she couldn't remember when she woke the next morning. She woken to her alarm bleeping at 7:30. She sat bolt upright in a cold sweat, her mouth open with terror. It took her a moment or two to remember where she was, then it took another moment or two to calm down enough to switch off her alarm. Her head was pounding, and she didn't feel like getting up.

She glanced over at Minnie's perfectly made bed, and realized that she must have gotten up early again. _That's one strange girl. _Aelita thought as she grabbed her clothes and headed for the showers.

Minnie was, once again, down in the woods, writing about everything she had learned the day before. She needed to write it down so that her head wouldn't explode. She didn't write it in a diary formate, but more of a dot point format, piecing the bit together, then writing a log about what she had learned, almost like writing an essay. She wrote in English, in case someone else picked it up and started reading it.

She wasn't down there for very long, just long enough to jot everything down, before rushing to the lunch room for breakfast. Today they were having eggs, which wasn't too bad, so long as you didn't think of where the eggs had come from. She took a seat next to Odd, who was already there, stuffing his face.

She didn't sit to close to him, as she had this thing about boys. People called it a phobia, but she said, "I don't like boy's so long as they don't like me!" Anyway, Odd was to busy eating to notice that she was there.

Minnie was finished by the time the others came into the Lunch room, looking very tired and slightly frazzled.

"I hate mornings," Aelita groaned, sitting down to eat. Ulrich mumbled something incomprehensible.

"Oh," Groaned Jeremie. "I was up all night working on an Anti-virus, but were still at square one! Franz Hoppers diary has helped a lot, but I don't know where to go from here!"

"It's okay, Jeremie," Aelita said, rubbing her eyes. "Take your time. Don't try and rush it."

"But we don't have that much time! What if X.A.N.A. attacks again, and he manages to steal your memory completely?"

"Jeremie, your making a scene!" Aelita hissed at him, and he didn't speak again.

"Well, see you guys later," Minnie said in a flat tone as she walked off.

"Bye," They all mumbled after her, except Odd, who was still stuffing his face, too busy to farewell Minnie.

Minnie was wondering around the corridors, lost in thought, when she accidentally bumped into someone.

"Hey," Yumi cried. "Watch were your going!" Minnie looked at Yumi, slightly frightened by her. Suddenly, Yumi realized who it was.

"Get lost, Minnie." Minnie started to hurry away. "And stay away from my friends too!" She shouted after her.

Of course, this was impossible, because they had classes together, and she shared her dorm with Aelita, so there really wasn't anyway to stay away from them.

Yumi stared witheringly after her, despising her for everything that she had caused.

**Will have more updates soon! (Hopefully)**

**Review! **

**Thanx**

**OcyTaviAh **


	11. Chapter 11

**OddObsessed- Thanks for for the correction! Will change it ASAP. Yumi is over-reacting, but would you really expect anything less from her after what just happened? Don't worry, everything will work itself out. At least, I think it will. You never can tell when a story has a mind of it's own... Thank you for reviewing!**

**ON WITH THE STORY! **

Look Before You Seek

Chapter 11

Minnie avoided Yumi after their short encounter in the corridor. Yumi frightened her more than any other person ever had. It was obvious that Yumi hated her, but Minnie wasn't sure what Yumi could, or would do. Aelita had told her that Yumi was a mean fighter, and Minnie didn't want to get in her way for fear of getting hurt.

Not only was she avoiding Yumi, but it seemed that she was avoiding the others too. She didn't usually talk to them much, but now she just completely blanked on them. She sat as far away from them as she could get, and acted like they didn't exist. It seemed that she was taking Yumi's threat very seriously.

At break time, Minnie sat at her desk, slowly packing her things away. She was terrified to go out in case she was confronted with Yumi again. She didn't leave the classroom until break was over. She was relieved to see that Aelita hadn't waited for her again, as she didn't want her to know about her fear of Yumi, and she didn't really feel like being pestered.

Between break and Lunch, she kept her head down, focused on her work, only looking up when the teacher spoke. Aelita kept giving her worried glances, but Minnie never saw any of them.

"Ulrich," she whispered. "I'm worried about Minnie. She hasn't talked to us since breakfast." Aelita's eyes were filled with concern.

Ulrich mumbled something without looking at her. It didn't sound very nice.

"What?" Aelita whispered. "Look, somethings up with her. What do you think?"

"I don't really care, Aelita. She's not our friend." Ulrich's words were harsh, even if they were true. Yet, Aelita still felt like she should be nice to Minnie. After all, she hadn't even been there a week, and she was already in over her head, and had made enemies before making any real friends. So, Aelita defended Minnie.

"Hey, you were the one who convinced us to take her to Lyoko," Aelita whispered.

"Well, that was only to make up numbers," Ulrich whispered back in defense.

"Sure it was," Aelita whispered, and said no more.

Suddenly, Ulrich wondered why he was so quick in letting Minnie come with them. I mean, she had been in the school for less than one day at the time. But Minnie had been stubborn and determined. Ulrich hadn't known then that letting Minnie go to Lyoko with them would be such a big mistake. Now Yumi didn't trust any of them, and it seemed that Minnie was Yumi's enemy before they'd even met. He felt like it was all his fault.

Minnie was quick to leave when the bell rung for lunch. She didn't even go to the Lunch room to eat. Instead, she took a salad her mother had prepared earlier and put in a freezer bag for her,to keep it as fresh a possible. She took her lunch down to the woods, where she ate and read until the bell went for the end of lunch.

Today was a Thursday. Tomorrow, she would be able to go home for the weekend. Her mother had said that she would send her packed lunches and new sheets, provided she brought the old ones back. But tomorrow, Minnie would go home for good. She hated it at Kadic. She knew she would from the moment she stepped in the gate. It was a place of secrets that were not meant to be reveled, and place were dreams turn into nightmares. A place where one girl can make you fear for your life...

Maybe Minnie was being to drastic, but you must understand that she was a very sensitive girl. In almost every movie, she would cry. She even cried over th sadder scenes in some of the books that she read. She cried whenever anyone yelled at her, or made her feel horrible inside. But she was just as easily turned happy as she was sad. Yumi made her feel horrible on the inside. Yumi made her feel like all she had brought with her to Kadic was catastrophe and pain. She was the reason that Minnie needed to leave. Yumi terrified her. She scared her to the bone. She was the reason that Minnie had to leave. Minnie felt like leaving was the only way to make things right. Like the only way to fix a problem was to run away and wait for it to fix itself.

Minnie made it through the rest of that day without seeing Yumi. When the bell rang to signal the end of school, she bolted to the dorm she shared with Aelita and stayed there for the rest of the night. She didn't even come out for dinner. She just sat and read, trying to escape into the world of words...

Meanwhile, Ulrich was desperately trying to get Yumi's attention for the entire day.

During break, she had stay away from them completely, foiling Ulrich's plot of trying to get her to forgive him casually.

Then, during lunch, she sat at a table with some smaller children, who were blowing bubbles in their drinks with straws, and having contest to see how much food they could stuff in their mouths without swallowing. Then, when they had finished their lunch, he tried to catch her outside, but she had already disappeared, and Ulrich had no idea where she could have been.

As it was, Yumi was in the woods during lunch, crying her heart out, because her only friends had betrayed her. She appear strong and stubborn on the outside, but everyone has feelings. Yumi just needed to express hers alone. It was just lucky that Minnie wasn't wandering that lunchtime, as Minnie would have surely stumbled upon Yumi crying, and who knows how it could have ended.

Ulrich then tried catching her before she left, but she was gone before he even got to the gates. Ulrich was depressed. He wanted Yumi to know how sorry he was, to forgive him, but he immediately felt horrible for think this. She was the one who had been betrayed, and he wanted her to understand how he felt? Could he be anymore selfish? He should be trying to show empathy towards her, not trying to make her feel sorry for him.

But life is always changing. No day is ever the same. Each day brings new things, new experiences. Each new day brings new ope. Things are always changing, and the next day changed many things, and affected many things too. Whether it be for better or for worse, I'll let you decided that. All I can tell you was that things changed.

**Ooo! What changes? Will tell you in the next chapter. Please review.**

**Thanx!**

**OcyTaviAh **


	12. Chapter 12

**OddObsessed- Yes, this is my first real fanfiction. My other one was a bit of a dud, because it wasn't really a fanfiction, but my own creation. This is the first time I've written a story about something that already exists! I'm not that big on using other peoples ideas. Thanks for reviewing!**

**ON WITH THE STORY!**

Look Before You Seek

Chapter 12

One of Minnie's many tweaks was her obsession with her drink bottle. Back in Australia, she took one with her to school everyday, and she was very protective of it. No-one but her was allowed to touch it. But the ironic thing was that Minnie was constantly losing her drink bottle, and needed it replaced. They were only cheap, plastic water bottles you bought from the store with water already inside. Still, her drink bottles were very important to her, even if she had gone through 50 in the past year.

It was on this Friday that Minnie woke up a had a sudden yearning for her drink bottle. She had packed it in one of the bags that she hadn't unpack yet. It was still very early morning, too early to even be light yet, but she got up anyway, and she searched through the bag until she came across her cheap, slightly disfigured drink bottle. She then went to fill it with water.

This was one change.

Minnie took her drink bottle with her when she went down to the woods that morning, but she didn't take her book bag. She didn't feel like reading or writing. She didn't even feel like thinking. She just wandered around aimlessly with her drink bottle clutched tightly in her right hand.

It was still too early to be light. Minnie wasn't sure how early it was exactly, as she hadn't checked the time when she woke up, or as she left. She also didn't know that Ulrich was also wandering in the woods that morning. He wasn't able to sleep. He had been thinking of Yumi. He did know the time, because he was wearing a watch. It was only 4:30.

This was another change.

At around 5:00, Ulrich grew tired of walking, and he sat down on the ground, leaning his back against a tree trunk, his head in his hands. He was frustrated with himself, not knowing what to do about Yumi. At that moment, Minnie walked past the tree where Ulrich was sitting.

Minnie might not have noticed that Ulrich was there. She was completely zoned out. But Ulrich definitely noticed Minnie! He felt something brush past him, and he looked up. It took him a few moments for his eyes to adjust, but then he saw long, frizzy brown hair, and he thought of only one person, _Minnie._

He scrambled to his feet and started after her. He wanted her to understand everything that she had cause, he wanted to make her hurt as much as he was hurting. His hands clenched and unclenched as he stared after her. He wanted her to disappear, he wanted her to be gone. He wished that she had never come to Kadic, he wished that she hadn't come to France. He wished she hadn't been born. He wished for everything to be back the way it was before they met her.

Ulrich didn't go after Minnie, he just stared after her, until he couldn't see her anymore. Then he turned and ran. He wanted to keep running, running to get away from it all, but he couldn't. So he just ran back to his dorm instead.

Odd heard him come in. He heard the door shut behind Ulrich. He heard the bed squeak as Ulrich sat down on it. It was still dark. Odd groaned and rolled over. He checked the clock. it wasn't even 5:30 yet! What had he been doing? Odd felt tired, but he was awake, and he was interested in knowing where Ulrich had been.

"Where have you been?" He mumbled, only just louder than a whisper. He suddenly sat bolt upright. "Have you been with Yumi?" He asked with curiosity.

"No," Ulrich said, slightly annoyed at Odd for mentioning her. "I was in the forest."

"At this time of night?" Odd asked, yawning.

"Yeah. I couldn't sleep." Ulrich was rubbing his eyes as he spoke.

"Thinking about Yumi?" Odd asked.

"Something like that," Ulrich said, not really wanting to spill his guts to Odd, who was more likely to mock him that be of any help. "Minnie was down there too," he added with absolutely no tone.

"Really? What was she doing down there? Wait, are you and her..."

"No!" Ulrich said, almost angry at Odd. But he was Odd, and it was like him to jump to conclusions like that.

By this time, Kiwi was awake. He was sitting next to Odd, looking at him and whimpering for food. Kiwi was quite a bit like Odd, where eating was concerned. But Ulrich was never sure where Odd got the food to feed Kiwi, but he was still alive, so he must have a way of getting the food.

Odd was absent-absentmindedly patting Kiwi. "So," He continued. "What was she doing down there?"

"I don't know," Ulrich replied. He hadn't thought about why she was down there. "I suppose she has her own problems."

"Maybe she's been possessed by X.A.N.A.?" Odd added helpfully.

"No, Jeremie would have alerted us if there was an attack. Plus, she's been to Lyoko. X.A.N.A. can't posses someone who's been to Lyoko." Ulrich said this as though it was a bad thing.

"Well, what do you think she was doing down there?" Odd just wouldn't let it go.

"I don't know," Ulrich said, starting to lose his temper. "Let's hope she does everyone a favor and runs away," he added, kicking off his shoes and rolled over, his back to Odd.

"You don't like Minnie much, do you?" Odd was determined to continue the conversation.

"Well, let's just say things would be better if we had never met her," Ulrich said in a warning tone that finished the conversation.

Odd sighed and rolled over, and went back to sleep.

Meanwhile, Minnie was still wandering around aimlessly. She didn't even know if she was really think anything. It was as though all meaning had left her body and had gone somewhere else, leaving an empty body to roam. She wasn't taking in her surroundings, she wasn't even sure where she was anymore.

Then, something happened to bring her back down to earth. She walked into a tree. She hit it rather hard, and fell backwards, landing flat on her back. She was winded for what felt like hours, but was really only seconds. It took her a few moments to remember anything at all, like she had sudden temporary amnesia from not thinking for so long. Then again, it may have been the shock that brought her back that did it, but we can never be sure.

Then, like you might read in books, her thoughts came rushing back to her, sweeping over her like a huge wave. She got up and had a good look around. All she could see was trees. She started to panic, not knowing which way to go to get out of this maze of trees. She could hear her heart beating loudly in her ears. In just a few moments, she had gone from being relaxed, to confused, to scared.

She started running in one direction, although she had no idea where she might end up. She didn't get to find out anyway, because she tripped over her own feet in her panic. As she fell, her hands shot out in front of her. The drink bottle was released from the grip of her right hand, and landed on the ground the same time she did. It bounced once or twice, before rolling away.

In a flash, Minnie was on her feet and after her drink bottle. She didn't want to lose her drink bottle. It was _hers_, and it was still full of water, so she ran after it. As Minnie ran in pursuit of her drink bottle, she noticed that if Minnie sped up, the drink bottle rolled faster, but it never got so far that she lost sight of it, and if she slowed down, so did the drink bottle, but she still couldn't catch it. The strangest thing was that the drink bottle seemed to go just as fast up hill as it did down hill. It was very strange indeed.

Minnie wasn't sure how long she chased after her drink bottle, but it seemed like an awfully long time. It finally did stop rolling, just in front of a stone wall. Minnie rush over to it and picked it up, grateful that the wall had stopped it. She had had her eyes on her drink bottle for the entire time while she had been running, and it was only now, after she had it again, that she really looked at where she was. It had gotten light enough to see, but she didn't know where she was.

She definitely wasn't at Kadic any more, she knew that much. But where was she? She seemed to be in a little suburb. There were neat little houses side by side, all with perfectly mowed lawns and beautiful gardens. She can't have gone very far from Kadic, could she? I mean, her drink bottle can't have rolled all that far by itself, could it?

You could call it fate, you could call it destiny, or you could call it an accident,all I can tell you is the cold, hard facts. I will let you decide what brought Minnie to that small suburb on the morning of the day that she had decided would be her last day at Kadic. All I can tell you is that, as Minnie pondered over where she was and how she would get back, someone walked out of one of the small suburb houses, calling something to the people still in the house. Minnie looked up, and instantly froze at who she saw.

Yumi.

**Minnie and Yumi. **

**Sworn enemies. **

**What will happen? **

**You'll just haveto wait for chapter 13!**

**Please Review**

**Thanx!  
**

**OcyTaviAh **


	13. Chapter 13

Look Before You Seek

Chapter 13

Minnie stood, frozen, staring at Yumi, who was waving to her parents as she walked out the door. Yumi turned away from her house, and her eyes met with Minnie's. She froze, startled to see her, of all people, standing across the street. But she got over this shock very quickly, and anger rose inside of her, like a pot of hot water ready to boil over.

What Yumi did next was purely out of anger. She ran towards Minnie in a blind rage. All thoughts and emotions had left her. She now had only one objective: to hurt Minnie. She wanted to make Minnie hurt as much as she hurt.

Minnie, upon seeing Yumi running towards her, screeching a battle cry, had become unfrozen. She didn't run, because she knew that Yumi was much faster than she was, so she did the only thing she could think of in defence. She curled up into a little ball, put her hands over her head, squeezed her eyes shut tight, and prayed that she might live to see tomorrow.

When Yumi saw Minnie huddle into a ball, she stopped, surprised. She had never come up against anyone in a fight who didn't fight back, and she was at a loss. She looked at the girl that she despised more than anyone else (even Sissi), and she pitied her. Yumi took a few steps back, to try and signal that she wasn't going to fight, but Minnie didn't take any note of this. Yumi couldn't hear her, but she was muttering a silent prayer under her breath, and was oblivious to the world around her at that moment.

"Get up," Yumi said, gruffly.

Slowly, Minnie rose to her feet, shaking like a drenched puppy that was left in the rain. For the first time, Yumi registered the necklace hanging around Minnie's neck. It was a gold chain with a strange 't' shape hanging from it. The 't' was studded with diamonds, and it looked very expensive. Minnie could sense Yumi staring at her cross, and she fingered it absentmindedly.

"What is that?" She asked Minnie, in the same gruff tone that she had used before.

"It's a cross," Minnie said, still fiddling with it. "It symbolizes Christian faith and belief." Minnie couldn't think of any other way to explain it to Yumi, who would most probably follow her family's traditional religion.

"Oh," Yumi replied. "Why are you here?"

"I kind of got lost," Minnie said, feeling very nervous.

"How?" Yumi said very quickly, in a tone that made Minnie feel like she was under questioning.

"Well, I was- You see, it was my drink bottle. It rolled all the way here and I followed it." Minnie examined the grass, which was extremely green, as she said this.

"Your drink bottle rolled all the way here? It's a bit far to roll, don't you think. And it happened to end up right outside my house. Sounds like a bit more than a coincidence, don't you think?" Minnie came to the sudden realization that Yumi thought she was stalking her.

"Yeah, strange," She said, trying to hide her nervousness with a giggle. "Well, I'd better be off now. Don't want to be late for class." Minnie looked to her left, and then to her right, unsure of which way to go. All this time, Yumi was watching her. Minnie gave a nervous chuckle, and then headed in the direction she thought the school was in.

"Wrong way," Yumi said plainly, almost as though she was bored, after Minnie had taken a total of 4 steps. Minnie gave another nervous chuckle, then headed off in the right direction. Yumi walked beside her, silently showing her the right way. They said nothing the entire way there.

Back at school, Aelita had woken, once again, with no idea where Minnie was. She tried convincing herself that she would turn up at breakfast, or at class, but she still couldn't help worrying.

At breakfast, Ulrich was unusually quiet, concentrating on his food with a sour expression on his face. Odd was also silent, as though her was trying not to get Ulrich upset about something, and it was obvious to Aelita that that something was a someone called Yumi, and so she stayed silent too, although she was itching to ask about Minnie. But somehow, she felt that asking about her would only make things worse.

"Have you seen Jeremie?" She asked instead.

"Nope, haven't seen him," Odd said, trying to fake his usual happy self. "He's probably working on his computers." Odd's expression changed as he said this, and he looked away from Aelita. From is expression, it seemed as though he wanted to say more, but Aelia didn't pressure him. Friends didn't do that sort of thing.

Ulrich mumbled something about Yumi, and he walked out o the lunch room, leaving half a tray of food, which Odd quickly devoured.

"Is something the matter with Ulrich?" She asked Odd, even though it was obvious there was.

"Well yeah. Yumi is one problem, and Minnie is another. I think he's having a silent struggle over two girls," Odd said, as though it was as casual as getting new shoes because the old ones are too small and have holes in them.

"What?" Aelita said, shocked. "You think that Ulrich likes Minnie more than Yumi? He doesn't even like Minnie!"

"I don't think, I know. He does like Minnie. If you remember, it was him who finally folded and let her come with us that night, and now he's acting like it's everyone else's fault except him, and he's pretending to hate Minnie. Maybe he's trying to hate Minnie, so he won't have to deal with himself liking her, and he can get on with liking Yumi," Odd said, taking another mouthful of Ulrich's breakfast.

"I'm sure that's not true," Aelita said, sounding more sure than she was.

"Well, you're a girl. You're not expected to know how our minds work. And I know Ulrich. He'll try and hide his feelings, masking them with another emotion sometimes. Still, it's obvious when he likes someone. You can hear it in his voice when he talks about them." Odd did not look at Aelita as he said all this, more concentrated on his food than the conversation.

"What about when you like a girl?" Aelita asked sneakily.

"Who said I did?" Odd said defensively, almost sounding nervous.

"Oh, come on Odd. You've been out with almost all the girls in our grade," Aelita said, finishing off her food.

"It doesn't mean I like them. I mean, they're just pretty girls," Odd said nervously.

"You mean that you've never had any feelings for a girl that weren't just physical? That is so shallow, Odd!" Aelita said, although she wasn't surprised.

"I didn't say that I didn't like any of them, I'm just saying they weren't right for me." Odd had suddenly had trouble swallowing his food, and he choked and coughed once or twice.

"I'm going to see if Yumi's here yet," Aelita said, getting up and walking away.

"I like you," Odd said quietly, but it was too late, and he knew it. She was too far away to hear him now.


	14. Chapter 14

Look Before You Seek

Chapter 14

As Aelita walked towards the school gates, she noticed Ulrich standing, frozen, staring at someone who was heading into the school. When Aelita saw who it was, she froze to, unable to believe what she was seeing. It was Yumi, walking through the gates, with Minnie next to her.

Minnie seemed very frightened, suppressing a shiver of fear every now and then. As soon as they reached the gates, Minnie bolted to the direction of the dorms, face as white as a ghost's, her hair streaming out wildly behind her.

Ulrich glanced at Minnie fleeing from Yumi, and Aelita saw a glimpse of what appeared to be concern in his eyes, but that quickly left them as he turned towards Yumi. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to say something. When he finally shut it for good, Yumi turned away from him and walked away. He stared after her, as though he wanted to run after her, but he didn't. He looked down at his shoes and slowly walked away.

Aelita, who had been a witness to the whole confusing scene, didn't know what to do next. She wanted to go and talk to Yumi, but she was sure that it would only make a bad situation worse. She thought about talking to Ulrich, but he probably wouldn't talk to her. She felt sorry for Minnie, but also felt that Minnie needed some time alone. She couldn't really talk to Odd, so she went to Jeremie's dorm.

She knocked on the door once, twice, three times, before Jeremie opened it. His face was pale, and he had dark shadows under his eyes. He looked very tired and fed up, but his eyes lit up when he saw it was Aelita. He didn't say anything; he just opened the door and let her in, and then went back to his computer. Aelita sat on his bed, examination what he was doing.

Suddenly, he turned to her. "Is something wrong?" He asked, as though he had forgotten to ask before.

"Well," Aelita started, but then the computer Jeremie was working on started beeping. He turned to it, and quickly started typing in computer codes.

"Another activated tower. X.A.N.A.s getting faster. Go get Yumi, and I'll call Ulrich and Odd. We'll meet you down at the factory." This was Aelita's cue to leave.

She raced down the corridors, looking for Yumi. Finally, she rang Yumi's mobile. She was still running and puffing as the phone rang. Yumi didn't pick up. She tried 3 or 4 times before Yumi picked up.

"What?" Yumi said angrily into her mobile.

"We…need…you…at…the factory," Aelita managed to puff out.

"You seemed fine last time you went without me. Why don't you just get Minnie to go with you?" Yumi sounded very jealous indeed.

"We…need…you," Aelita repeated, trying to get her breath back.

"Well, I don't see why-" Yumi started, before Aelita interrupted.

"Just hurry up!" She yelled into the phone, and then she hung up. She stopped to rest against the wall for a few moments, before running in the direction of the factory. It wasn't like her to yell like that, but, then again, no one has really been himself or herself lately.

Aelita got to the factory to see Jeremie at the super computer by himself, typing in codes and such. She assumed that the others were just late, and so she waited, silently, with Jeremie. It seemed they were waiting for an eternity, before Yumi arrived.

"Where are the others?" She asked, as though she could bear to speak their names. Aelita and Yumi looked at Jeremie.

"Well," Jeremie said, rather nervously. "Odd said he would come. I'm not sure about Ulrich though." He didn't look at either of them as he said this.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Aelita asked him, but he didn't answer.

Just as the words left Aelita's mouth, they heard the elevator doors open, and out stepped Odd, followed by a very grumpy looking Ulrich. For a few moments, there was silence.

Then, very suddenly, Aelita couldn't here Jeremie tapping the keys on the keyboard, and she heard him take a sharp intake of breath.

"What is it Jeremie?" She asked, looking over his shoulder at the computer screen.

"The tower," He said, staring at the screen in disbelief. "It's deactivated itself."

Upon hearing the news that she was not needed anymore, Yumi headed straight towards the elevator. She brushed by Ulrich as she passed him, and he took a long, shaky breath. As the elevator doors closed, Ulrich quickly slipped inside with Yumi.

"What are you doing?" Yumi asked, looking him directly in the eyes. Ulrich could see that her eyes were full of anger, and he looked down at his shoes.

"Yumi, I'm sorr-" Ulrich didn't get to finish.

"If you're here to say sorry, don't. You already said it. Words won't change how I feel," she said stubbornly.

Ulrich looked up to see her still staring at him. He felt very nervous under her gaze.

"Yumi, I" He started, faltering slightly. "I love you."

The elevator door opened, and Yumi ran straight out. Ulrich called after her, but she didn't stop.

_He's lying. _She thought. _He's lying. I'll bet that they set it all up so that they can get me to go back to Lyoko, to get me back into the group. He doesn't love me. _

But, no matter how much she tried to convince herself, no matter how much she tried to hate him for what he had done, she couldn't deny that she loved him back.


	15. Chapter 15

Look Before You Seek

Chapter 15

Aelita and the rest of the group were late to class, but Minnie wasn't there. She wanted to ask about her, but their teacher wasn't in the mood to answer any of their questions, so she asked Odd what he thought about it.

"If you ask me," Odd whispered to her, "She was probably to scared to show herself with the whole Yumi situation, being her fault and all.

"It was not her fault," Aelita said a little to loud. Everyone turned to look at her.

"Is there something that you would like to share with the class, Miss Stone?" Her teacher asked. Odd felt a chill down his spine as he remembered that she was posing as his cousin.

"No, Sir," Aelita said quietly.

"Good. And I do not want to remind you again that this classroom isn't the place for a social chat."

Back at her dorm, Minnie was packing her bags, concentrating on folding each piece of clothing perfectly. She then stripped her bed and packed the sheets and covers too. When she was done, it showed no trace of her ever having been there. _And that's how it should be. _Minnie thought. She placed her bags neatly on her bed, and checked the time. 10:45. Everyone would still be in class, but Minnie felt very hungry. She grabbed her book bag and e drink bottle and rushed outside.

As she ran out into the fresh air, she took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. She went to the vending machines to get a snack, then she headed for the forest at top speed, enjoying running for the first time in her life.

Back in Aelita's class, Odd was trying to get Ulrich to talk, or more, whisper to him about Yumi, and it was really starting to get on his nerves. He was getting ready to pound Odds head in, when the bell went for break.

As Odd, Aelita, Ulrich and Jeremie left the school building, they were shocked to see Yumi holding hands with a boy with black hair. She was smiling, and, as Ulrich watched, he started whispering into her ear, and she giggled. They didn't seem to notice the group of people frozen on the spot, staring at them, and they walked away. Ulrich wanted to run after him and hurt him. He hated this boy, who had most probably won her heart over his. But, instead of pounding the boy to a pulp, he just stood there, clenching and unclenching his fists.

As soon as Ulrich became unfrozen, he headed towards the forest in anger. None of them tried to stop him, for fear of being beaten up, so they just watched as he marched away angrily.

As Ulrich marched angrily through the forest, he started kicking things in his blind rage. At first, he was just kicking dirt, and then he started kicking trees and bushes. He was not taking in his surroundings, just trying to release his anger. He heard a squeal as his foot came into contact with something that wasn't a tree or a bush. He stared at the thing that was stumbling away from him, and it took him a while to see who it was. It was Minnie who he had kicked. His eyes opened wide with surprise.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, sounding meaner than he meant to.

She didn't answer him. She just sat there, quivering, clutching her knees to her chest. Ulrich saw her eyes full of fear, and felt a wave of guilt wash over him, and his eyes softened.

"Minnie," he started, sitting down next to her. She quickly moved away from him, obviously afraid. "Minnie, I'm sorry, I didn't mean… I'm sorry." He didn't know what else to say. He looked at this girl who's hair could have it's own zip code, and he realized he had blamed everything on her, and it wasn't her fault. He didn't know what to do.

To Minnie's shock and horror, Ulrich put his arms around her and enclosed her in a hug. "I'm sorry," he said. Minnie panicked. Nobody ever hug her except her parents, not her friends, no one. He breathing became shallow as she tried to escape from his grip. Ulrich noticed this, and quickly realised her. He saw her eyes were still full of fear as she tried to get away from him by crawling backwards. She quickly got up, grabbed her book bag, and ran from him, leaving not only a bewildered Ulrich, but her drink bottle too.

Ulrich noticed the drink bottle with her name on it next to where she had been sitting. He picked it up as he got up, and he watched her run away. She was the strangest girl he had met, and he didn't know what to do about her. He pulled his hair in frustration. It was obviously easy to scare the girl, but gaining her trust was something entirely different.

Minnie reached her dorm as the bell went for the end of break. As she entered the room, she heard her mobile ringing. Unfortunately, she had already pack it, and she had to scramble through the bags wildly to find it before it rang out. It was her mother. Minnie listened in disbelief as she heard her mother's words.

"It's only for a week, so you can come and see your new house next weekend," Said her mother's crackly voice on the other end.

"Can't I come to Paris with you guys?" Minnie asked pleadingly.

"Don't be silly, you only just got to Kadic. I'm sure you wouldn't want to miss any time at school." Her mother saying this probably meant that the company only covered her and dad, and they couldn't afford her to come along.

"But mum, I don't want-" Minnie was cut off in mid-plea.

"Don't 'but mum' me. Bye Minnie. Have fun!" And her mother hung up.

"Bye," Minnie said pathetically to no one.

She sighed, looked at her bags, and started to unpack. It was going to be a long weekend.


	16. Chapter 16

Look Before You Seek

Chapter 16

Ulrich spent the time between break and Lunch puzzling over Minnie. Of course, it didn't help that Odd was still pestering him about Yumi. Finally, he completely lost it.

"You want me to talk about Yumi? Do you?" Ulrich whispered to Odd, sounding somewhat like a maniac. "Okay then, I'll talk about Yumi. I love Yumi. See, I'm talking about Yumi. There, are you happy? Now shut up and leave me alone!" Ulrich was breathing heavily after this out burst, and Odd was leaning as far away from Ulrich as possible. Ulrich rased his hand.

"Yes, Mr. Stern?" The teacher enquired.

"May I please go to the bathroom?" Ulrich asked, sounding as pleasant as he could.

"Very well," The teacher replied, waving him to the door.

As soon as he closed the door behind him, he raced off towards Aelita's dorm, which was now also Minnie's dorm. He knocked on the door.

Inside the dorm, Minnie was just finishing Unpacking for the second time that week, when she heard a knock at the door. She was sure it was the principal or a teacher come to tell her off for skipping classes today, but it was much worse. She opened the door slowly, peaking out and seeing Ulrich standing there, puffing very loudly. She slammed the door in his face, as a fear reflex. She took a few deep breaths, so when he knocked on the door again, she opened it knowing what to expect outside, and so she did not slam the door in his face again.

"What do you want?" Minnie asked in a small voice, almost afraid of the answer.

"We need to talk. I need to talk to you," Ulrich said, still getting his breath back.

"Okay," Minnie said, feeling very unsure.

Ulrich shook his head. "Not here," he said, and he tried to take hold of Minnie's hand to lead her somewhere, only to have her react in the same she did when he tried to hug her earlier. She whipped her hand out of his, and fled back into her room, slamming the door behind her. Ulrich leant his head against her shut door in frustration, and then he knocked again.

"Will you please just come with me?" He called through her shut door.

"What do you want with me?" She called out to him, sounding scared again.

"I only want to talk," Ulrich said. He realized that Minnie really didn't like to be touched. Her door slowly opened, and she peered out.

"Okay," she whispered so quietly it was barely heard.

Ulrich led Minnie down to the forest, and he sat down, and she sat next to him, closer than she did before, although she quickly positioned herself further away from him. He looked at her, but she was looking at the ground.

"Minnie," He started. "I wanted to say I was sorry-" Minnie interrupted him.

"You already said you were sorry," Minnie told him, as though he didn't already know.

"But you don't know why," Ulrich said, insisting on making his point. "You see, I wanted to blame you for everything that's happened over these past few days-" Minnie cut him off again.

"That's okay. It's my fault anyway," she said, still looking at the ground.

"No, it's not your fault. It's not your fault, it's my fault." He reached out to stroke her hair, but she pulled away. He rested his hand on the ground, only to find that he rested it on Minnie's hand, which she quickly jerked away. Ulrich looked at her with concern in his eyes.

"Why won't you let me touch you?" He asked her.

"Why would you want to?" She asked him, before fleeing back to her dorm. This time, Ulrich chased after her. When he caught up to her, he grabbed her arm, forcing her to stop running.

As she tried to tug her arm free, Ulrich said, "Maybe I do want to touch you." Minnie froze. She looked him straight in the eyes, with her sad, blue-grey eyes.

"Please, let go," she pleaded, and he let go of her arm, and she ran back to her dorm. This time Ulrich only followed her with his eyes.


	17. Chapter 17

Look Before You Seek

Chapter 17

Ulrich wondered about Minnie for the rest of the day. She showed up at class after lunch, but she didn't do any work. She just sat, staring straight ahead. Ulrich occasionally glanced at her, not wanting to be caught staring at her. But Odd caught him looking at her anyway.

"Where did you really go when you said you had to go to the toilets?" Odd whispered. Ulrich looked at him.

"To the toilets," He replied.

"No, really, where did you go?" Odd knew that he really didn't go to the toilets, because he was gone all lunchtime too.

"I went to see Minnie," He said, trying to make it sound like it wasn't a big deal. But, instead of the shocked outburst that he expected, Odd smirked, as though he had known all along that that was where he had gone. "What?" Ulrich asked, annoyed.

"You like her," Odd whispered as a reply.

"I don't," Ulrich insisted.

"You do," Odd whispered back. Ulrich sighed.

"She's afraid of me."

"How do you know?" Odd asked suspiciously.

"I could see it in her eyes," Ulrich whispered.

"Uh huh. What colour are her eyes?" Odd asked sneakily.

"They're a bluey-grey, like the colour of storm clouds," Ulrich said dreamily.

"So you do like her," Odd concluded.

"I never said that," Ulrich said, a little too loud, making a few people give him funny looks.

"All I can say is that you better choose between Minnie and Yumi. And, since it seems Yumi is currently unavailable, you should choose Minnie."

"Thanks for the advice," Ulrich replied, turning towards the window and gazing out, still pondering about Minnie.

Later that day, after school, Aelita and Jeremie joined Odd and Ulrich in their dorm. Ulrich wanted to ask Aelita about Minnie, but he didn't want Odd launching into a big explanation to why Ulrich is asking, so he tried to ask about Yumi, but he couldn't. Every time he thought of her, his mouth went dry, and angry boil in him, as well as pain, when he thought of her with the dark-haired boy.

Fortunately, Aelita brought up both Minnie and Yumi in the conversation, making things slightly easier for Ulrich. She had discovered that the dark-haired boy was in Yumi's class, and was called William. She also informed them that Minnie would be staying at school for the weekend. Odd gave a sideway glance to Ulrich, who thought about kicking him, but figured it would look too conspicuous.

It turned out that he didn't have to worry about looking conspicuous, as Odd thought he might share to the others what he had learnt today. They both looked at him, shocked, seeing by his downwards glance and his flushed cheeks that Odd was telling the truth.

"What about Yumi?" Aelita said, still shocked.

"I never said that I don't still _like _Yumi," Ulrich said, still looking at the ground.

"But you can't like both of them!" Jeremie was almost yelling at him. It was unusual for Jeremie to act this way, as he was the computer genius, not an expert on girls at all.

"I know! I know." Ulrich wasn't sure what else to say. His friends had found him out before he could understand how he felt himself. He liked Yumi. He had always liked Yumi, but Minnie was different. Ulrich shook his head. He didn't understand girls at all.

"You need to talk to them," Aelita said to him quietly. She did really want to mention Yumi to much, but he did need to talk to her.

"I already talked to Minnie," he replied quietly. Aelita looked at him with surprise.

"What did you say? What did she say?"

"I said sorry," he replied plainly.

"And?" Aelita said persistently.

"She didn't say much. She kept running away. She left her drink bottle behind, too."

"She ran away?" Jeremie asked, puzzled.

"Ulrich thinks she's afraid of him," Odd said like it was no big deal.

"Could we please stop talking about this?" Ulrich said, slightly annoyed.

Just as the words left his mouth, Jeremie's laptop started bleeping. A tower had been activated.


	18. Chapter 18

**LyokoWarrior12- Thanks for Reviewing. You'll have to wait and see what X.A.N.A'S attack is. Keep Reading!**

**ON WITH THE STORY**

Look Before You Seek

Chapter 18

Ulrich was dialling numbers into his mobile while Odd, Aelita and Jeremie ran to the factory. The phone ran once, twice, three times. He started pacing.

"Come on, Yumi. Pick up," he muttered to himself. Finally, the phone clicked on.

"What?" Yumi obviously wasn't in the mood to talk.

"Activated tower," Ulrich said, in the same mood as Yumi. He didn't know why he had to be the one to call her. No, he did, he just didn't know how his friends could be mean enough to make him.

"Why do you need my help?" Yumi asked, in the same tone.

"Please, Yumi. We can disucss this later, but now we really need to do this," Ulrich was starting to sound desperate.

"Sorry, I can't come. I'm busy," She said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Busy?" Ulrich asked.

"I'm with William," she replied smugly.

"William?"

"He's a guy in my class, but I shouldn't have to explain to you. I do have my own life." And she hung up. Ulrich, enraged, punched the wall.

He heard a light knock on the door. Trying to control his heavy breathing, he made his way to the door. He opened it, and was surprised to see Minnie. Before he could ask her what she was doing there, she started jabbering.

"Have you seen my drink bottle? I don't know how long it's been missing for, but I'd really like it back. Have you seen it?" She was talking fast, and her breathing was shallow. He gave her a strange look, but retrieved her drink bottle from in the draw under his bed. She grabbed it. "Thank you," she breathed, and then gave him a funny look. "Why did you keep it?"

"I was going to give in back to you, but I forgot," Ulrich was avoiding her eyes.

"Well, thanks," she said, starting to leave.

"Wait," he called, reaching out to grab her arm, but pulling away just in time. He had almost forgotten how sensitive she was about being touched. He still didn't know why. "There's a tower activated in Lyoko. Do you think you could come and help?" Minnie thought for a few moments, and then nodded. "Okay, follow me," Ulrich said, starting towards the factory.

It took them awhile to get there, as Minnie was rather slow, and she wouldn't get on the skateboard with Ulrich, but they eventually got there. They reached the control room, where Jeremie and the super were. Odd and Aelita were already on Lyoko, and were having problems. Ulrich and Minnie quickly joined them. They were in the ice sector, and only a few hundred meters away from where Ulrich and Minnie virtualized. Odd was attempting to defend Aelita from three Krabs. It was strange to find Krabs in the ice sector.

Minnie watched in amazement as Ulrich morphed into three Ulrich's, and started fighting off the three Krabs. Minnie quickly got over this shock, and ran to protect Aelita. She formed a yellow force field in front of Aelita, trying to see if she could form it into a bubble, to protect Aelita completely.

"Odd!" Aelita couldn't help crying out as Odd was shot, lost all his life points, and devirtualized. Ulrich, who was fighting off a different Krab, was distracted by Aelita's cry, and hesitated, looking over his shoulder. The Krab he was fighting shot him off his feet, and he also devirtualized. Minnie let her force field down so that she could shoot the Krabs, although she was finding this hard to do.

"Shoot into the air," Jeremie suggested helpfully, so she tried it. And it worked. The flash of yellow flew up into the air, and then descended back down, hitting a Krab on its eye. Minnie quickly fired another shot into the air in the same manner, destroying it in the same way. She then collapsed from exhaustion.

"Minnie!" Aelita cried softly, unaware that the Scyphozoa was right behind her.

"Aelita, look out!" Jeremie cried. Aelita jumped up, and gasped as the Scyphozoa came closer to her. She started to move away, but then stopped. The Scyphozoa wasn't after her; it was going for Minnie.

Aelita watched, shocked at what was happening. Jeremie, watching from the super computer, was also shocked. Ulrich and Odd came out of the elevator just as Aelita asked what was happening.

"I don't know, but Minnie is loosing memories fast," Jeremie said, still shocked.

"What?" Ulrich and Odd asked at the same time.

"The Scyphozoa has got Minnie and is draining her memories. I can't figure out why." Jeremie was typing fast into his computer as he said this.

"What do we do?" Aelita asked from Lyoko.

"We get Yumi," Ulrich relpied.


	19. Chapter 19

**ilovepinkthecolour- Yes, I finally did romance. I know it's not my style. I highly recomend you do start watching the show. Thanks for reviewing and keep reading! **

Look Before You Seek

Chapter 19

Unfortunately for them, Yumi was still in no mood to co-operate. They couldn't even try to convince her of the dire importance, as she would not answer her phone for any of them. Ulrich threw down his phone after his fifth try, and it broke into two pieces. He angrily banged his fist on the rusted metal door of the elevator, and ran his hand through his hair, looking at the ground with impatience. Jeremie and Odd looked at each other nervously.

While all this was going on, Minnie and Aelita were still in Lyoko, trapped, and Minnie was still being drained of her memories. Jeremie was typing furiously, but quite suddenly, he stopped. Odd noticed the absence of the clicking of keys, and bent down to examine the computer screen. He could make nothing of the images that flashed on and off the screen.

"What's happening?" Odd asked, worried.

"Uh…" Jeremie stuttered. "It's, uh… It's the Scyphozoa. It isn't draining Minnie of her memories, like we thought, it's replacing them."

"With what?" Odd said loudly, almost sarcastically, as he was amazed.

"With the memories he stole from Aelita." Odd looked at him, shocked, and Ulrich raised his head, suddenly interested. "I don't know what will happen," Jeremie continued. "She might be able to tell us something. She might think she is-" Jeremie was cut off.

"Jeremie," Aelita called from inside Lyoko. "Something strange is happening." She sounded very alarmed. Jeremie checked the screen, typing quickly again. He gasped.

"What?" Odd said, looking at the screen, having no idea what was happening.

"There's a second Scyphozoa," Jeremie replied, almost whispering.

"There's more than one!" Odd yelled with amazement.

"Jeremie," Aelita called again, backing away from the other Scyphozoa. But there was nothing he could do, it had already grabbed her.

"Aelita," He called to the supercomputer. He froze for a moment or two, then called Yumi from the supercomputer. This time, Yumi answered.

"Will you leave me alone?" She shouted into her phone.

"The Scyphozoa has Aelita!" He said loudly and quickly. "Yumi, we really need you now. We don't know what will happen if X.A.N.A. gets out!"

Yumi was silent. "Okay," she said. "I'm coming." And she hung up. Jeremie stopped typing and sat back in his chair.

"What are you doing?" Odd demanded.

"Nothing," Jeremie replied. "There's nothing we can do until Yumi arrives." After this, no words passed between any of them.

After 2 minutes, the two Scyphozoa dropped Minnie and Aelita. Alelita collapsed, but Minnie landed on her feet. Jeremie tried to make contact with her, but she didn't answer. The eye of X.A.N.A. flicked in her eyes, as she walked slowly away from Aelita's limp body. Then Minnie took of running. It wasn't really Minnie running. Minnie couldn't run that fast. No, it was X.A.N.A. who was in control of Minnie, with all of Aelita's memories.

Suddenly, Minnie disappeared. Jeremie, shocked, sat up straight in his seat. She reappeared in the fifth sector as suddenly as she had disappeared. A screen materialized in front of Minnie. She could see it; she could feel it under her hand. She was completely conscious, she just couldn't control herself. Things flashed on the screen that Minnie didn't understand, but her hands kept moving, working, doing things she never could have.

Jeremie, still sitting alert at his computer, watched helplessly as every tower activated itself. Yumi arrived just as X.A.N.A. finished. A black wisp of smoke seeped out of Minnie, who was being shed like yesterday's skin. She materialized.

Ulrich accompanied Yumi to the scanners, both pretending to ignore one another. They arrived just as the door of Minnie's scanner opened, and she fell out. Ulrich ran forward and caught her before she hit the ground. She was still breathing, although she was out cold. Yumi said nothing, but glared at Ulrich's back as she got into an empty scanner to accompany Aelita on Lyoko. He was too busy with Minnie to notice.

Yumi arrived on Lyoko's ice sector, and immediately spotted Aelita, lying on the ground lifelessly. She hurried over to her, pulling her up. She groaned, and her eyes opened ever so slightly. She mumbled something that was inaudible, and then closed her eyes again, becoming limp in Yumi's arms. She was still alive, but barely. No body noticed the Krab creeping up on Yumi and Aelita. It shot Aelita, who instantly materialized. Yumi tried to block a few blows, but she was fighting for a lost cause, and eventually materialized also.

Odd and Jeremie left the super computer and went down to the scanner room. It didn't matter about the super computer anymore. X.A.N.A. had escaped.

**X.A.N.A. has escaped! What will he (Or is it she? or maybe 'it'.) do next? What's his plan? Will Yumi forgive the rest of them? Find out in the next chapter (If I ever get around to writing it!)**

**Cya Later**

**OcyTavia**


	20. Chapter 20

**Sorry guys, this might be my last chapter for a while. I've kind of got writers block, because I was never good at finishing stories. There will be a sequal, and it will be called 'You Can Run, But You Can't Hide' and it will be rated M. This is just a future warning.**

**By the way, thanks to everyone who has read, and to everyone who has reviewed.**

**ON WITH THE STORY**

Look Before You Seek

Chapter 20

"Yumi," Ulrich called, trying to keep up with her as she ran out of the factory and towards the manhole. He fin ally caught up as she was heaving the lid of the hole. She ignored him until he grabbed her wrist and forced her to look at him.

"Yumi listen to me," he said angrily. But she didn't listen; she just grabbed her wrist back and hurried down the manhole and across the sewer. Ulrich chased after her.

"Yumi," he called, out of breath while on his skateboard, chasing Yumi. "We need to talk!"

"No, we don't!" She shouted back at him. Shouting at Ulrich had distracted her for the split second that she skated over a few scatter rocks that acted like marbles, making her skid and fall of her board. Ulrich was quick to catch up.

"Yumi, are you okay?" He looked very concerned.

"I'm fine," she replied bluntly, without looking at him.

"We need to talk," He said, offering her a hand up. She ignored his help, getting up on her own.

"No, we don't. X.A.N.A. has escaped, and it's all because you letting that girl go to Lyoko. We can't do anything now. It's out of our hands." She was still refusing to look at him.

"That's not what I meant, and you know it," Ulrich replied. "Yumi, you know how I feel about you."

"And I know how you feel about her," she said, finally looking at him. He looked back, confused. "I've seen the way you look at her, and I know you love her, like you say you love me. But you can't have me and her." Yumi had tears in her eyes. "And you can't make the decision now, because one of the options has just left." Yumi turned and ran away. Ulrich wanted to run after her, but his legs wouldn't let him. He ran his hand through his hair, frustrated. He kicked the wall with anger.

After a while, the others joined him, Jeremie and Odd supporting Aelita, who was still unconscious, and Minnie walking behind them, her arms crossed and her eyes darting wildly, like she was confused. Ulrich had a sudden urge to comfort her, but he knew it wouldn't be a wise move.

He felt very confused himself, having an internal battle over Yumi and Minnie, although he knew that no matter which one won out, he couldn't have either. Yumi had just made herself unavailable, and she seemed very fond of spending all her time with William. And then there was Minnie, who was so afraid of him that she wouldn't even come close to him. He was hopelessly confused.

Jeremie seemed to preoccupied with thinking to actually say anything to Ulrich, and Odd didn't even glance at him as they walked by, as he was too concerned with Aelita. Minnie seemed to be the only one who noticed him, but that was because she kept her distance and porously avoided catching his eye. So they all walked in silence.

Getting Aelita up though the manhole proved very challenging, as she was still unconscious, and she couldn't climb the ladder herself. In the end, Ulrich climbed up the ladder to pull Aelita up, while Jeremie and Odd lifted her from beneath. The fact that

Aelita was wearing a very short skirt didn't help the matter much, either.

Eventually, they were all safely through the hole, although Aelita was still unconscious. Minnie walked slowly, so she was at least two meters behind the group. It was very dark at this time, as it was getting into the small hours of the morning. Somehow, the group managed to smuggle Aelita into her room without anyone noticing.

The laid Aelita down on her bed as Minnie sat down on her own bed, looking out the window, into the darkness. She hadn't said a word since being materialized, because se was confused, and deep in thought. So deep in thought that she didn't remember walking back through the woods and back into the school. She didn't even register that she was in her room. She shivered, even though it wasn't cold, but Ulrich was the only one to notice this, as both Jeremie and Odd were more concerned with Aelita, as they weren't sure if she was going to wake up.

After a few minutes, Ulrich ushered Odd and Jeremie out, not wanting to be caught by Jim. They were also very tired, and all three boys fell asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow. They didn't even bother to get undressed, and they fell asleep with their shoes on. Minnie, however, did not get any sleep. Her mind was to full of questions that may not have answers, and ideas that she wouldn't have ever dreamt about, and memories that weren't her own. Even though X.A.N.A. was no longer controlling her body, he had left all his knowledge, as well as all of Aelita's memories, in Minnie's mind.

This frightened Minnie, as she had never thought about these sorts of things before. As the sun began to rise, Minnie awoke from her thoughts, and saw Aelita, who had nothing left inside of her. Her memories had been taken and put into Minnie. Although Minnie was still shaken by her experience with X.A.N.A. controlling her, she knew that Aelita wasn't going to wake up unless she got back what X.A.N.A. had taken from her.

Minnie got up, and lifted Aelita from her bed as if she weighed no more than a feather, and walked out of the dorm, out of the school. She walked through the forest and down the manhole, through the sewer, out the other end, and into the factory. Somehow, she managed to slide down the broken cable lines while still holding Aelita.

She pressed the button of the old, rusted elevator, and they went down noisily. Minnie stopped at the room with the super computer in it, and walked straight to it. X.A.N.A. was no longer trapped inside, so it would make the process easier. She quickly typed in a few codes, as she had the combined knowledge of Aelita and X.A.N.A., and then took Aelita down to the scanner room. It is unclear how both Aelita and Minnie entered Lyoko without anyone operating the super computer from the outside, but they did enter Lyoko.

Minnie, somehow knowing exactly how to give Aelita her memories back, walked straight up to a now inactivated tower. Now that X.A.N.A. had escaped, there was no reason for them to stay activated, as he no longer needed the towers to launch his attacks.

Minnie entered the tower, still holding Aelita, and walked to the centre. She was then lifted to the higher platform, where a transparent screen appeared. Minnie, having to lay Aelita on the ground first, placed her hand on the screen. The word Entremêlé appeared on the screen, under the word Name. Then the screen went blank, only to let the word Code be typed in on the top of the screen, underneath, the word written was Exode des Cerveaux.

Very suddenly, Minnie felt very queasy and weak; she almost collapsed, but not quite. She half sat, half laid down, her face over Aelita's. The queasy weak feeling begain to spread throughout her body, making her shake violently. Very slowly, something left Minnie in a stream. It looked curious, almost like wisps of clouds, except the colour of roses. They floated down to Aelita, until they stopped emerging from Minnie, and she collapsed.

Nobody had seen it, but the tower that Minnie had activated hadn't turned into a fixed colour, as the other activated towers did. It shimmered between red, white and yellow, making an orange colour at one point. It was very strange indeed, although no-one was there to see it. The tower deactivated itself after Aelita memories returned to her. Aelita woke up almost instantly, dazed and confused, not remembering where she was.

She soon realized where she was, and tried to call out to Jeremie, who was always at the supercomputer when the virtualized. But he didn't answer, because he wasn't at the super computer. He was down at the Lunch room, eating breakfast with Odd and Ulrich. They were all eating silently, as they didn't have much to say. Suddenly, Jeremie's laptop, which he always kept o him, started beeping, alerting them to an activated tower in Lyoko. He picked it up and opened it, confused that a tower could be activated.

"What is it?" Ulrich asked, being the first person to say anything all morning.

"I'm not sure," Jeremie replied, typing fast. "It says there's an activated tower, but it's probably a dud that reactivated itself. It might deactivate itself." Just as he said this, the tower deactivated, and he closed his laptop. "I'm going to go down the factory, just to be safe," he said, getting up from his half eaten breakfast of strange smelling eggs and what may or may not be toast.

"Okay," Odd said, his mouth full of eggs and the mysterious toast. "I'll go check on Aelita, see if she's woken up yet."

"I'll come too," Ulrich said to Odd. The he turned to Jeremie. "Call us if you see anything." Jeremie nodded and headed off towards the factory, while Odd and Ulrich went to the floor of the girls dorms. They walked in silence, not knowing what to say to one another after what happened the previous night. Both boys gasped when they reached Aelita's dorm, as the door was wide open, and neither Minnie or Aelita were to be seen.

Unfortunately, Ulrich standing in the corridor of the girls dormitory floor, staring startled into Aelita's dorm left him an open target for Sissi, who had just woken up. She opened her door, and saw Ulrich a few doors down. She ran up to him enthusiastically.

"Ulrich, dear, you've come to visit me!" She cried, flinging her arms around his neck. Ulrich was so startled by this that he stepped back and fell over, bringing Sissi down on top of him. This was the worst timing for Ulrich to be clumsy, as Jim was walking around the corner to wake anyone that was still sleeping, and he spotted Sissi on top of Ulrich, and immediately jumped to the wrong conclusion.

"Stern," he barked as he lifted Ulrich up by the collar of his shirt. "What do you think you are doing?" And, without wait for an answer, he continued. "You shouldn't be on this floor at this time of day, let alone…" He paused, trying to think of a way to put what he was thinking into words. "Let alone doing what you were! And with the principals daughter? Detention!" Then, spotting Odd staring at him, he pointed his finger at him. "You too," he barked. "Now get back to your own dormitory, Now!"

Odd and Ulrich quickly made their way back up to their dorm, only to have Jeremie call them on Ulrich mobile.

"You guys need to get down to the factory, and quick," he said.

"Why?" Ulrich asked, still annoyed at getting detention because of Sissi.

"Aelita and Minnie are in Lyoko, and I don't know how to get them back out!"

**Might not update for a while, so please be patient with me. There will be some Odd Aelita romance in the next few chapters, though. **

**Keep Reading**

**OcyTaviAh**


	21. Chapter 21

**Sorry for the drama before, but I just wanted more reviews, and it was extremely selfish of me. Anyway, I didn't have writers block, and I couldn't help but continue writing. I thank _futurehottie_ and _LyokoWarrior12_ for their reviews. **

**ON WITH THE STORY!**

Look Before You Seek

Chapter 21

Odd and Ulrich were silent as they ran towards the factory. Ulrich seemed to be too frustrated to talk, and Odd didn't really want to get on his bad side at this point. Odd had another reason to be silent, though, as he had his own problems to think about, concerning Aelita. He had liked Aelita for quite a long time now, but he didn't know what to do about it. He had never had any problems with girls before, but Aelita was different. There was the fact that she and Jeremie had a thing, and that was obvious. Also, he and Aelita had been through a lot more than he had been through with any other girl he was interested in.

As they rode through the sewer, they were both so deep in thought that they didn't even notice the overpowering stench of the sewer. It was an unusually strong smell, even for the sewer.

By the time they got to the elevator, they had both snapped out of their thought bubbles, and had come back down to earth. They both cringed at the sound of the rusty elevator screeching down to the super computer.

"Finally, you're here," Jeremie exclaimed out of breath, as though he had just ran all the way to the factory. "I've been waiting a long time!"

"So what's going on?" Ulrich asked, sounding casual despite knowing the situation was anything but casual.

"Well, Aelita and Minnie are trapped, but they're okay. Aelita's awake, but Minnie appears to be unconscious." Jeremie paused, turning towards his computer to type in a few coded computer messages. "I've been working on materializing them, but I don't know how they got there. Aelita doesn't either."

Ulrich walked over to the super computer, but Odd stayed where he was, near the elevator. "So, what can we do?" Odd asked, sounding a bit smug, although he didn't mean to.

"Well," Jeremie began, but he was interrupted by Aelita.

"Jeremie," Aelita called from Lyoko. "I think Minnie is waking up!" She sounded panicky and vulnerable.

"Don't worry, Aelita," Jeremie said back to her. "I'm sending Ulrich and Odd to help you." He then turned to Odd and Ulrich, "Get down to the scanners, and quickly. I don't know what will happen to her if she stays in Lyoko much longer without protection."

"Don't worry, Einstein, X.A.N.A. isn't in Lyoko anymore." Odd still sounded smug.

"But we don't know if he'll come back. He could hurt Aelita," Jeremie said, looking at Odd, surprised he was taking this so casually, as if these sorts of thing happened everyday. "I don't think you understand how much danger she could be in. Lyoko could be unstable now that XA.N.A. has left. You'll need to go to sector 5, so I can have a better look at things," he added, turning back towards his computer.

Odd and Ulrich went down to the scanners. Odd seemed slightly agitated because of his conversation with Jeremie. It seemed to him that Aelita was much more reliant on Jeremie, but he wasn't surprised. Jeremie knew what he was doing when it came to computers, and he seemed to have the super computer down pat. She obviously felt safe with him in control; who wouldn't? Odd was still thinking all this as he stepped into his scanner.

"Transfer, Ulrich!"

" Transfer, Odd!"

"Scanner, Ulrich!"

"Scanner, Odd!"

"Virtualization!"

They landed in the Ice sector, both feeling the cold seep through to their skin. Even though it was only a computer programme, it felt so real it was scary. As Odd straightened up, he felt his toes gong numb with cold.

"Aelita is in a tower, about 600 feet south-west of you current location. You'll have to get both her and Minnie out before I can transfer you to the 5 sector." Jeremie sounded anxious. Ulrich and Odd started running in the direction Jeremie told them the tower was in, Odd lacking behind Ulrich slightly, as he wasn't as fast as Ulrich was.

They made it to the tower with no interruptions, which was strange, as it had never been so quiet before. They entered the tower quickly. They had only ever done this to change sectors, and it felt strange stepping on solid ground _inside _the tower.

"Aelita?" Odd called as soon as he had entered the tower. She stuck he head over the edge of the platform at the top of the tower.

"Up here!" She called, sounding scared. They both looked up at her anxious face.

"How do we gat up there?" Ulrich asked Odd, who could only shrug.

"Can you come down?" Odd called up to Aelita.

"I don't know," Aelita called back down, looking behind her before continuing. "Minnie's still not awake, and I can't carry her."

"Jeremie," Ulrich called out. "What do we do now?"

"I'm not sure," Jeremie said into the little microphone that was attached to his headphones. "Try jumping?" He added, trying to be helpful.

"Jumping!" Odd called out sarcastically, outstretching his hands as a helpless gesture. To his surprise, this gesture was very helpful, as he found himself being lifted of the floor of the tower, and towards the top platform of the tower. He landed gracefully on the tower in front of a kneeling Aelita, too astounded to say anything. Ulrich was quick to follow, reaching the top platform soon after Odd. He said nothing,he just walked straight to Minnie, lifting her from the floor. She moaned softly, but she didn't wake.

"How do we get down?" He asked Aelita.

"I'm not sure," she said, her voice shaking. "I've never needed to do it before."

"Jeremie," Ulrich called impatiently. "How do we get down?"

"Umm… I think you should just be able to jump down." Upon hearing this, Ulrich wasted no time. He walked straight to the edge, jumping off and landing on the ground, unharmed.

Odd turned to Aelita, and offered her his paw. She took it, standing up, gazing intensely into his eyes. Both sets of eyes saw something else in the other set, but this bond was broken quickly. They both looked down at the platform below and, still holding hands, jumped down to it, falling slowly.

They both landed gracefully, and walked out of the tower to where Ulrich was waiting for them. They were all then swept away by the Transport Orb that Jeremie sent, Ulrich still holding Minnie, Odd and Aelita still holding hands, heading off to sector 5.


	22. Chapter 22

Look Before You Seek

Chapter 22

Sector 5 felt chillingly empty to Aelita, as there were no longer any monsters to suddenly attack them. She began to notice the little things about it that she hadn't noticed previously, like how every sound echoed, whether it be a foot step or a voice, or even a breath. Sector 5 had the strangest feeling about it, almost as if it was alive. It seemed, now that X.A.N.A. had left, it was holding it's breath, waiting. It was like it knew that something was going to happen, like it knew something that the rest of them couldn't possibly. The whole group felt this spine chilling feeling, and kept on their toes, staying alert for even the slightest of movements.

But they weren't attacked by anything as they slowly walked through the sector. Ulrich walked ahead of them all, his eyes sharply looking in every direction. He hadn't said a word since they had left the tower. Odd might have said something, but he didn't really feel like speaking himself. He was having a weird feeling, like he was trying to watch two televisions at once. The thing that disturbed him the most about this sensation was that it felt strangely familiar, although he didn't remember why. He was finding it difficult to walk straight, and Aelita, who was still clutching his hand, noticed this.

"What's wrong?" She asked, so quietly that Odd wasn't sure if she'd said it, or if he'd just imagined it. He was about to answer, but he started to see things, as though in a dream.

_Flash_

_Aelita was working on the transparent screen that would soon appear in reality, only she appear to be having trouble, as if she was not finding what she was suppose to. Her mouth moved to form words, but he couldn't hear a sound. _

_Flash_

_Darkness._

_Flash_

_Hands reached out and pushed Aelita, who tumbled over the edge, mouth wide open in silent terror. She fell down, quickly being dissolved by the darkness._

_Flash_

_A set of eyes, plagued by the symbol of X.A.N.A. _

_Flash_

_Darkness._

_Flash_

"Odd?" Odd heard an anxious voice calling his name, pulling him out of the darkness around him. "Odd, are you okay?" Odd opened his eyes slightly to see a blurred face above him. He blinked a few times, before rubbing his eyes and sitting up.

"Aelita?" He was surprised to hear his own voice sounding so weak. He swallowed and rubbed his eyes once more.

"I'm here, Odd," Aelita said quietly. "Are you okay? What happened?"

"I saw…" Odd began, but found he couldn't continue. The experience was to horrible to put into words. He tried to stand up, but he was to dizzy.

Ulrich was watching him from a distance, still holding Minnie. He felt uncomfortable under Ulrich's stare, although he didn't usually. Maybe it was the fact that he had stayed so silent, never really talked about himself. He hadn't said a word since they left the tower. He seemed to change at times, becoming sort of like a leader, someone who didn't let personal feelings get in the way of a task. Either way, Odd felt uncomfortable under his gaze, as it was cold.

Everyone was suddenly distracted by a low, moaning sound, echoing around them. All three of them searched with their eyes for where the sound had come from, but they found nothing. Aelita helped Odd up before continuing, saying nothing of Odd's premonition.

Ulrich suddenly stopped, as the walls that had been so close to the platform had now opened, leaving the platform open and vulnerable. Although they had only walked a short distance, it had seemed a long way, partly because of Odd's flashes, partly because of the silence, but mostly because of the vibe that kept them from walking to quickly and that kept them alert.

Aelita walked slowly past Ulrich, out onto the open platform. She was now vulnerable to any monsters that might suddenly attack; she was a sitting duck. Odd began to follow her onto the platform, when the transparent screen appeared, and she knelt before it, just as it was in Odds vision. He was frozen, watching her, half in terror, half in confusion and interest, wondering whether it would play out the same.

Odd was too busy watching Aelita to notice Minnie waking, but Ulrich did. After all, it would be a bit hard not to notice someone waking in your arms. But she didn't wake like someone usually would, slowly and restlessly, she woke like a robot might be programmed to, eyes opening, sitting upright.

Ulrich noticed her waking, and gently lowered her to the floor, not wanting her to freak out. But it was him who was freaked by Minnie, who didn't look around in confusion when she awoke, but rose straight away, setting off towards Aelita. Ulrich immediately realized something was off about Minnie, and set off following her.

Minnie didn't hesitate. She could hear Ulrich's footsteps behind her, and she turned to look at him, making him freeze. The eye of X.A.N.A. flickered in her eyes, but he had no time to register this shock before receiving a powerful blow from Minnie's yellow electrical-looking energy shots, flinging him back a fair way, making him loose almost all of his life points.

Odd, who had been watching all this, sprang suddenly into action, preparing to shoot at Minnie. But not wanting to miss and hit Aelita prevented him from shooting immediately. He chose his aim carefully, looking down his arm with one eye, as though looking down the glass-aim barrel of a rifle.

Aelita seemed completely oblivious to the situation occurring behind her, and she continued to work on the screen, with much difficulty. The files were still all there, but they were muddled and misplaced, which made it harder to access them to do what she needed to before Jeremie could continue.

In the material world, Jeremie was watching the screen of the super computer carefully for any monsters that might suddenly appear. He was surprised when Ulrich was thrown back, but he didn't see where the blow had come from, so he could give no warning or advice.

"How are you doing Aelita?" He called to her, as it seemed to be taking longer than usual.

"Everything's mixed up," she said, panicky that she wasn't even half way through the procedure. "It's so confusing, Jeremie!"

"Jeremie, we have a situation down here," Ulrich called out, as Odd was busy aiming, and Aelita knew nothing of it.

"Huh?" Jeremie said, and Ulrich was quick to reply.

"It's Minnie. She's still got X.A.N.A. in her."

"What?" Jeremie shouted, alarmed. "How is that possible?"

"Have you got any ideas?" Ulrich asked, sounding stressed. Jeremie paused, thinking.

"I might," he said. "But it might not work. I haven't tested it yet."

"What are you on about?" Ulrich called, watching Minnie get increasingly close to Aelita.

"I'm coming down to the scanners," he said. "I'm coming to Lyoko."

"Hurry," was all that Ulrich could manage, as he started to run forward, pulling his sword from its sheath. He didn't want to hurt Minnie, but it wasn't really Minnie; It was X.A.N.A.

But he didn't make it in time, and Odd never got a chance to shoot, as they both were witness to Odds vision coming true; Aelita, pushed by Minnie, tumbled off the platform and down into the darkness below, Her scream echoing throughout sector 5.

**Okay, A bit of a cliffhanger. So, what will Jeremie look like on Lyoko? Will they save Aelita? Why is X.A.N.A. still plauging Minnie?**

**Review and Keep reading. Am sorry if I don't update for a while. **

**OcyTaviAh**


	23. Chapter 23

**Sorry for not updating quickly. Heres the new one, Enjoy!**

**ON WITH THE STORY!**

Look Before You Seek

Chapter 23

_But he didn't make it in time, and Odd never got a chance to shoot, as they both were witness to Odds vision coming true; Aelita, pushed by Minnie, tumbled off the platform and down into the darkness below, Her scream echoing throughout sector 5. _

"Aelita!" Odd called, running to where Aelita had fallen, in a desperate hope to save her. But Minnie was in no mood for last minute rescues. With just a flick of her hand she sent Odd flying backwards. She didn't even have to look at him; she had her eyes fixated on Aelita, falling into the darkness.

Minnie then created a force field around he open platform, preventing any of the Warriors to gain access to it, keeping her completely safe. Both odd and Ulrich tried using their abilities to get through the yellow energy shield, but Ulrich's sword couldn't cut through it, and Odd's arrows were just reflected. Ulrich's last feat against it was his super sprint, only to be thrown back, losing his remaining life points, de-virtualizing him from Lyoko.

Ulrich materialized in the real world soon enough to see Jeremie climbing into a scanner, somehow virtualizing himself with a little device on his wrist. Ulrich didn't have much time to dwell on this, though, as he hurried up to the super computer to see if he could be any help there.

Meanwhile, on Lyoko, Odd was still at a loss at how to get through the barrier. His arrows didn't work against the shield, and he had no other way of getting through. Aelita had fallen less than a minute ago, and he was still firing randomly at the yellow energy shield, half angry, half sorrowful, but he knew it would be impossible to help her now.

He didn't notice the appearance of the Transport Orb just a few hundred feet behind him, carrying Jeremie. He was suited up in a light blue, almost white, tight fitting body suit, almost as if he were a spy. The gadget on his left wrist added to this stereotype. His footsteps were silent as he walked towards where Odd was standing.

"Where's Aelita?" He asked, oblivious to the current situation. Odd jumped slightly, startled that Jeremie was in Lyoko. Jeremie snickered, but restrained himself from laughing.

"I didn't know you were a spy on Lyoko!" Odd exclaimed, not answering his question.

"What did you expect, a walking computer?" Odd almost said what he _had _been expecting, but though better of it, as he didn't know what Jeremie's abilities were yet.

"Where's Aelita?" He asked again.

"She- she, uhh," Odd stuttered as his words gathered in his throat, unable to reach his mouth. He swallowed before continuing. "She fell," he finally managed to choke out.

"What, how?" Jeremie seemed to be both shocked and disbelieving.

"Minnie, well, X.A.N.A. pushed her." Odd wasn't sure whether to refer to Minnie as Minnie or X.A.N.A. at this point in time.

Jeremie didn't ask any more questions, knowing that Odd wouldn't be able to answer them. He typed a few things into his wrist gadget. Odd was immediately curious about what it was, but said nothing, as Jeremie wouldn't want to be disturbed when working. Suddenly, Ulrich's voice was filling the sector.

"If there's anything I can do…" He said uncertainly.

"Keep a look out for any monsters," Jeremie said immediately. "We don't know if X.A.N.A. can command any through Minnie. Also, see if you can get Yumi on the phone, we'll need her help."

"How do you do that?" Ulrich asked, in a voice that also asked why he had to do it.  
As Jeremie sighed and gave Ulrich the instructions to work the phone from the super computer, Odd watched through the Yellow haze as Minnie/X.A.N.A. knelt down in front of the screen, doing something that would most definitely be harmful.

Suddenly, without any warning, Jeremie completely disappeared, without a trace. Just here one second, and then gone the next. Odd panicked.

"Where are you?" Odd almost yelled out.

"Calm down," Jeremie said over the commotion that Odd was making. "It's just one of my skills; camouflage."

"What, so you can become invisible?" Odd asked curiously.

"No," Jeremie said. "I can just blend into the background." Neither of them knew that actual invisibility was impossible. "Now, stay quiet. I don't think that she's noticed me yet," Jeremie said, motioning towards Minnie. "I might be able to get through the barrier. Just stay where you are, and don't draw attention to yourself." Odd nodded, and Jeremie nodded back, as an understanding, suddenly realizing, with some embarrassment, that Odd couldn't see him.

So Jeremie started off towards the barrier. Odd couldn't see what was happening, so he just stood still, still in shock from Aelita falling. He couldn't get the image out of his head. He had seen it, why hadn't he done anything to stop it? He could have, but he just stood there, staring dumbly.

But in the material world, Ulrich was fretting calling Yumi. He did want to hear her angry voice, not again. He wanted it the way back it was before they had met Minnie. She had made things complicated. She had ruined everything. He almost despised her, but he really knew it wasn't her fault. He wanted to blame her; he wanted to blame someone else. He didn't want it to be his fault, because he didn't know how to make things right again. He didn't know if things would ever be the same.

But he still had to call her, because they needed her help. He slowly brought up the programme on the super computer that allowed you to make phone calls, and slowly typed in Yumi's number. It rang eight times in total before she answered.

"What?" It was obvious she was not in a good mood.

"Yumi," he began, but he didn't know what to say.

"Ulrich? I thought it was Jeremie! What are you doing on the super computer?" Yumi was too surprised to sound angry.

"Yumi, we need your help," he said as quickly as possible.

"You seem to be saying that a lot lately," she said flatly. When Ulrich stayed silent, he continued. "Why do you need me? You have Minnie now, don't you?" Ulrich thought he heard a small falter in her voice, but he couldn't be sure.

"She's been possessed by X.A.N.A. He's still in her. We need you Yumi, we really do." Ulrich's voice was small and quiet, almost a whisper.

"Well, I don't really care about Minnie, and I don't really care about you, and right now, I have better things to do." And she hung up, leaving a sad and slightly shocked Ulrich on the other end.

But he soon recovered from this shock, as something strange was happening to the supercomputer. He wasn't touching the computer, yet the windows were closing gradually, one by one. He watched, puzzled for a few moments, before alerting the others of this current predicament.

"Uh, guys?" He said into the microphone on the end of the head set. "The super computer is acting weird. Things are disappearing."

Odd, who was still standing still in Lyoko, heard his words, but they didn't register. He was still reflecting on his actions, or rather, when he didn't act at all, and the words went in one ear and out the other.

Jeremie, on the other hand, listened to every word Ulrich said, and it suddenly hit him. X.A.N.A. wanted to destroy Lyoko, along with then Lyoko warriors. He was two inches away from the shield, and was currently going through the procedures of taking down the shield, but it was taking a long time. He hurried things along as he heard Ulrich's words. He finally typed in the last codes into his wrist-computer and the shield slowly came down.

Odd noticed this, and ran forward as fast as he could, in a blind rage for revenge. He didn't know what he would do when he reached Minnie, but it didn't really matter, because he never reached her. He stopped, staring in surprise as Aelita rose from the darkness in a blue orb of light. Jeremie suddenly appeared beside him, staring, but Odd was too fixated on Aelita to notice.

"Franz Hopper," Jeremie whispered. It was Franz who saved Aelita.

Minnie still hadn't notice what was going on. Odd tore himself away and walked cautiously towards her, trying to figure out what to do. Aelita hovered over the platform for a few seconds, and then the blue orb disappeared. Jeremie caught her before she hit the ground. Odd tried not to notice her in his arms, so he focused on his target. He crept steadily closer, then, when he was close enough, he grabbed her arms and held them behind her back, and so she couldn't bring up her defensive shield or shoot anyone with the yellow laser things, or do anything else on the transparent computer screen in Lyoko. Minnie struggled and fought hard, but Odd did not release his grip.

Aelita had become conscious in his arms. They had said nothing to each other, but they didn't need to. They had a connection, and both of them felt it. Aelita slowly stood up, and, seeing Odd holding Minnie's arms tightly behind her back, took control of the situation. He started to call out commands to Ulrich, calling out codes to type in. Finally, Lyoko faded around them, and they emerged from the scanners, exhausted.

Ulrich went down on the elevator to meet them. When he arrived, they were all stepping out of their scanners, slightly tipsy. All of them, except Minnie, who stood stock still in her chamber, hands still behind her back in the position Odd had held them in. She stared straight ahead, unblinking.

They all stared at her for a few moments, before Ulrich went to her to see what the problem was. He put his hand lightly on her shoulder, and she screamed. It wasn't one of those quick, startled screams, either, but a long, loud, ear-splitting, skull shattering shriek that almost didn't sound human. They all put their fingers in their ears to try and muffle the sound, but it wasn't successful.

When she finally stopped screaming, she collapsed to her knees, sobbing. Ulrich knelt down beside her, and pulled her into a hug. She tried to struggle away from him, beating his chest with her fists, but he didn't release her. Eventually, she stopped struggling and sobbed into Ulrich's shoulder. Ulrich stroked her hair and made soothing sounds. They sat there for an hour, until Minnie fell asleep, still in Ulrich's arms.

**Hope you Enjoyed it. This is the second time that Minnie was possesed by X.A.N.A., but Lyoko warriors aren't suppose to be vunerable to X.A.N.A. What's her weakness? Will Yumi forgive the group? Will Ulrich sort out his feelings for both Yumi and Minnie? Will Odd admit his feelings for Aelita? What will happen? Find out in Chapter 24, coming soon. **

**Cya Later**

**OcyTaviAh**


	24. Chapter 24

Look Before You Seek

Chapter 24

Ulrich sat on the cold hard ground, rocking the sleeping Minnie. The others had left around an hour ago, but had said nothing. It had been an awkward situation, and they didn't know what to say. Ulrich stared at the wall, but wasn't really looking at it, as his mind was wandering beyond the wall, thinking. He thought about Minnie, and he thought about Yumi. Both of them disliked him, yet he couldn't help liking them both. He wasn't sure what to do about the current situation with Yumi, as she was angry at him, and it wasn't wise to pester her. But he could do something about Minnie. She was scared of him, so he would have to be gentle and patient.

He sat there holding Minnie all night, willing her to wake so he could speak to her, yet wanting her to sleep still, as he didn't want her to flee in fear, or see a negative response. After a while, he started to dose, half awake, half asleep. There were no windows, yet he found himself waking at sunrise. Minnie started to stir. He panicked, but controlled himself. He knew she would panic, and he knew she would be confused and frightened, and he knew she wouldn't say a word to him.

Minnie's eyes fluttered open, and she rubbed her eyes, which were still sore and red from crying so much. She sniffed a few times, and then started to take in her surroundings. She turned her neck to see in a different direction, and saw Ulrich immediately. But she didn't panic; she didn't scream or jump up. Ulrich saw no fear in her eyes. Instead, she smiled at him, then rested her head against his shoulder, and closed her eyes. Ulrich felt a shiver run down his spine. Minnie wasn't scared of him anymore.

"Thank you," she whispered so quietly that Ulrich wondered if he had imagined it. He said nothing, and stroked her hair. After a few peaceful moments, Minnie sat bolt upright, looking slightly agitated. "What time is it?" She asked quickly. Ulrich checked his watch.

"Uh, it's 8:30," he replied.

"Oh great, we're going to be late," she announced. She stood up and walk towards the elevator, half stumbling. She then turned back to look at Ulrich, who had not moved from his place on the floor. "Are you coming?" She asked impatiently.

"I don't know," he said, looking at his outstretched legs in interest. "I think you killed my legs." Minnie rolled her eyes, chuckling lightly as she walked over to him.

"Up you get," she said, grabbing his arm and trying to pull him to his feet. But he was stronger than her, and he purposely pulled her back down, and she fell on her backside next to him. She shook her head, chuckling, and tried to get back up, but Ulrich pulled her down again.

"We're going to be late," she said again, but less stressfully.

"I don't really care if we're late," Ulrich said, lying on his back.

"Well get into trouble," Minnie replied, but she lay down next to him all the same. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her head onto his chest.

"I don't really care if we get into trouble," Ulrich whispered.

"Neither do I," Minnie whispered back. They lied there, silently for a few minutes, before Ulrich said something.

"Minnie," he said, his tone was nervous. "I… I think, I think I love you." She sat up and looked down at him.

"What about Yumi?" She asked, giving him a mixture of emotions.

"What about Yumi," he said, trying to sound laid-back, but through gritted teeth.

"You and Yumi had, you know, you had a thing." She was struggling to describe exactly what she through Ulrich and Yumi had.

"We had a thing?" He asked humorously. "We _had _a thing. Past tense." He half wanted to believe what he was saying, but the other half wanted to have Yumi back. Everything was so confusing now. But Minnie could see through this, see that he was struggling, see that he wasn't telling the whole truth. She stood up and looked down at him.

"I'm not sure you telling the truth," she told him, to his surprise. The last thing he had expected was for her to stand up to him, who just a few hours ago she was afraid of. "I'm going to go, and let you sort things out for yourself." It was as if she understood him better than he did. And so she left him by himself, to think. He had been thinking all night, and he could thing all day, and still not know what to do, still not understand.

Meanwhile, Aelita, Odd and Jeremie were down at the Lunch room, eating their breakfast in silence. They didn't know what to say to each other. Aelita hadn't said a word since being materialized, but Odd had talked in his sleep, as he kept reliving the horrible moments from Aelita's fall. Jeremie, on the other hand, hadn't slept at all. He was up for the remainder of the night, trying to reconstruct the aspects of the Supercomputer and Lyoko that X.A.N.A. deleted. During that time he had mumbled to himself, talking to himself for no particular reason. All three of them has gotten little to no sleep.

They didn't notice as the principal approached their table. They had not been present at the school, as they should have, due to the crises in Lyoko, and they hadn't made a return trip, as it had been in a file that X.A.N.A. deleted. Both Minnie and Ulrich were still at the factory at this point, and the school was currently deciding whether or not it was necessary to call their parents.

"Where have you been?" The principal asked sternly. "And where are Stern and the New student?" He still hadn't grasped onto her last name.

They all looked at each other and shrugged. They couldn't tell the truth, as it would sound absurd, so they had to lie. Odd was quick to pitch in.

"We were working on a project down at the factory, making a movie, and it took a really long time. Ulrich and Minnie dosed off after a few hours, and we thought it would be rude to wake them. It was a Saturday, we didn't think that we'd cause that much of a stir." This certainly did not sound like Odd, but it seemed to convince the Principal, at least.

"Well, you got back late, and I suspect that the other two are still at that old factory. I'll let it slide this time, but I don't want it to happen again. And I don't want to see you at that old factory either, it's dangerous." He was acting strangely nice, perhaps it was because of the prior 'visit' that Ulrich had made to Sissi, which had made her strangely happy, even if they had gotten into trouble for it. Perhaps he hadn't heard about that situation yet. Either way, he was acting strangely nice, although the others didn't dwell on it for too long. They had too much on their mind already.

Jeremie, who had hardly eaten anything, stood up and left abruptly. Odd noticed that they had been holding hands under the table, as Aelita's hand had trailed after Jeremie. He almost felt angry, but what he felt was more of an overpowering sadness at the thought that Aelita would always love Jeremie; she would always be Jeremie's, never his. Aelita didn't notice the sadness in Odd's see, or the fact that he was staring at her, partly because she was still staring after Jeremie, partly because her own mind was wandering beyond the Lunch room, thinking about all that had happened the pervious week.

Thinking about how everything had changed.

"Are you okay?" Odd's voice brought her back down to earth. He sounded strangely concerned. She looked towards him, then away again.

"Everything has changed," she said in her quiet, gentle voice.

Odd almost laughed. A lot of things had happened, but not everything had changed. At least, not from his point of view. Aelita still had no idea that he liked her more than a friend, and he had n o way of telling her. He didn't want to make things awkward for her. He knew that she cared for Jeremie, but deep down, he still hoped that she might see him in a different light one day. But he could only hope.

"Not everything has changed," he said. He wasn't sure what else to say.

"Yes, everything has changed. We met Minnie, and then Yumi left, and she's hanging out with that William guy. I think Ulrich is confused and sad, and Jeremie is- well, he's become sort of detached." He voice had risen slightly above the quiet, gentle tone she usually kept, which was the closest tone she could get to yelling.

"I haven't changed," Odd said, reaching out and holding her hand. She looked down at his hand, and then looked up at his face. She was very close to tears, and his face looked so kindly and understanding. Without talking, they both left the Lunch room and headed towards Aelita's room, still holding hands.

Once they arrived, Aelita entered her room and they slowly released the others hand. Aelita swallowed hard, and tried to say good bye to Odd, but she couldn't. The lump in her throat was locking her words, and ears started to pour down her face. She tried to blink the tears away, but the emotion was to strong. Before she realised it, she was sobbing into Odd shoulder, and he was holding her, stroking her hair and trying to comfort her.

After a short time, she freed herself from Odd's grasp and shook her head, saying

"Sorry," over and over again. Odd cocked his head to one side and brushed away a tear from her cheek. He slowly and awkwardly put his lips to Aelita's cheek, kissing her lightly. She stood there, staring at him. He turned to leave, but Aelita caught his arm and pulled him back. She kissed him, and he kissed her back.

Aelita suddenly pulled away, muttering about how it was wrong, and how she was sorry. Odd looked at her, but didn't attempt to touch her again. She entered her dorm and closed the door behind her. Odd place his hand to his mouth, his mouth that had touched her perfect lips.

Inside Aelita's dorm, Aelita brought her fingers to her own lips, her lips that had touch his. It had felt good, she had enjoyed it, but she regretted it now that she had done it. She was confused. She didn't know whether to be sad or happy or sorry. She was completely confused.

It was that small act that had changed everything.

**Story's almost over. Very close to completion. Please review. Any idea's or corrections are nice. Any comments are read with great interest. **

**Thanx!**

**OcyTaviAh**


	25. Chapter 25

**Okay, this chapter might not really look like it has anything to do with the story, but it will tie in later. Sorry if you find this chapter boring.**

**Another chapter closer to the end!**

**ON WITH THE STORY**

Look Before You Seek

Chapter 25

A consistent tapping sound echoed through Jeremie's room as his finger danced over the keyboard. To anyone else who might possibly hear the noises in his dorm would find them very annoying and a slight bit frustrating. Not many people could understand the complicated codes being typed into his computer, but if anyone was to see his face they would most probably think that he was actually getting somewhere, like all the meaningless words that he was typing actually had meaning, and they were affecting him in some way.

He suddenly jumped up, and stood leaning over his computer as he typed more codes into his computer at a much more rapid speed. Then something appeared on his screen that regular internet game users would know to be a loading window. When it reached 100, Jeremie sprinted out his door, leaving it wide open, and headed towards Aelita's dorm.

Aelita jumped off the door of her dorm when she heard quick knocks from the other side. She had been sitting against her door for at least an hour, making it around 10:00. She was still puzzled over Odd. She was caught completely off guard by Jeremie standing at her door, smiling and flustered.

"I did it," He announced happily. He sounded completely out of character.

"Did what?" Aelita said, now having his full attention.

"I did it," He repeated. "I did it! I did it, Aelita! I can materialize you completely! You won't be connected with the supercomputer anymore. I did it!" And with that, he gave Aelita a bear hug, which lifted her feet off the ground.

"Jeremie," Aelita gasped, as he was squeezing the breath out of her. He put her down.

"Sorry," he said quietly, looking at the floor. He meet her eyes briefly, and then returned his gaze to the floor, turning pink at the cheeks.

He then did something that was completely out of character for Jeremie. He took a quick step forward, lifted his head, and kissed Aelita lightly on the lips. It was so brief that Aelita didn't have any time to react before it was over. Jeremie walked swiftly away, seemingly embarrassed. He suddenly remembered something, and turned back to yell something to her from down the hall.

"Meet me at the factory. Don't bother about telling the others!" Then he was gone.

Aelita stared after him, still in shock.

Meanwhile, Minnie, who had just that moment reached the school grounds, (She had been strolling along very slowly, dawdling) and had gone to the Lunch room to get some breakfast. She was slightly down hearted when she found that they had just finished serving breakfast, and she would have to wait until Lunch. She still had a small amount of money, which she could spend on the vending machines, but she wouldn't be able to get any more money until she went home for the weekend next week. She decided she could go without breakfast, and wandered up to the dorm she shared with Aelita.

She reached the door, and found it lock. She figured that Aelita was with Jeremie or something like that, so she wasn't too surprised. The only problem was that she had left her key _inside _the dorm, and now had no way of getting in. She badly needed a shower and some fresh clothes, but it seemed that they would have to wait.

She wasn't sure what to do now, because what she really wanted was to go into her dorm and read. But that wasn't an option. She could go to one of the boy's dorms, but maybe they didn't really consider her a friend yet. Maybe they never would.

All of this was much too overwhelming for Minnie, and she sat down with her back resting on the door, Arms hugging her knees close to her, with her forehead resting on her knees. After a few minutes, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She jerked her head up to see who it was, but the figure was blurry through her tearful eyes.

"Are you okay?" The boy asked. Minnie sniffed and wiped her eyes so she could see who it was better. The boy had blonde, almost brown hair, and looked a bit dopey.

"I'm fine," she replied, although it was obvious that she wasn't. She tried to look as if she was okay, but it failed miserably.

"Uhh, it doesn't look like your fine. Umm, maybe if you tell me I can help." The boy had a dopey voice to go with the face, but he seemed kind.

"Thanks, but I don't think you can help. I've locked myself out of my dorm, you see…" Minnie didn't finish what she was saying before the boy was talking again.

"Don't worry too much about that. I know how to unlock doors without the keys. But I need to get something first." The boy stood up, and offered Minnie a hand. She stared at it for a few seconds, before accepting the help. The boy was quite strong, and he was at least 3 inches taller than her. He led her down the hallway, to another girls dorm, and he knock on the door.

"Who is it?" A snobby voice called over the noise of a hairdryer, a voice Minnie recognized to belong to the girl who had pushed her on her first night here, the one Ulrich had called Sissi.

"Uhh, it's me,' the boy called back to her. The noise of the hairdryer stopped, and Minnie heard Sissi's footsteps getting closer and closer. Minnie was frightened, but stood her ground. The footsteps suddenly stopped, and the door swung open.

"What is it? You interrupted my beauty routine, so it better be important." Minnie had a good look at the girl, who probably didn't need to beautify herself on the outside, but needed to beautify her personality much more.

"Uhh, can I borrow a hair pin?" It seemed like a rather pathetic excuse, but he wasn't the brightest person, either.

"A hair pin? What on earth would you need a hair pin for?" Sissi seemed quite annoyed at the request.

"Uhh, this girl needs, uhh, she's lock out of her dorm, and, uhh, we need a hair pin to get back in." Once again, not the most convincing performance from the blonde boy. Sissi turned to look at Minnie.

"What's your name?" She asked in her superior tone.

"Minnie," Minnie replied. Sissi turned away.

"I'm not helping her." Sissi said.

"Uhh, but, uhh, but why?"

"Ulrich has written about her in his diary. There is no way I'm helping that girl." Sissi was talking like Minnie wasn't even in the room.

"You read his _diary?_" Minnie was so shocked that she didn't even realize that she had spoken out loud until it was too late.

"Well, it's not like he talks to me. But he'll talk to people like you and that Chinese girl. I doesn't make any sense." She seemed to think that reading someones diary was perfectly normal.

"But reading his _diary?_ That's like, _stalking!_" Once again, Minnie had spoken before she knew what she was saying.

"Get out!" Sissi shrieked. "GET OUT NOW!" Minnie quickly rushed out, followed closely but the blonde boy.

"Well," Minnie said after they were safely outside. "That went well."

Uhh, yeah," said the blonde boy. He held up a hair pin. "It did." The blonde boy walked up to her door and jiggled it around for a few moments, before the lock caught and the door opened. Minnie almost squealed in delight.

"Thank you," She cried. "What was your name?"

"Nicolas," he relpied.

**So what's Nicolas' role in the story? Find out in chapter , coming soon. **

**Please review. Would love to hear your thoughts!**

**Thanx**

**OcyTaviAh**


	26. Editors Note

Dear Anyone who happens to read this (Though I doubt that anyone actually will),

I am sorry to announce that this story will be discontinued due to lack of interest. The author feels that the story is not worth continuing if no-one cares to read it. The author also has serious writers block on this story, most probably due to low spirits. She is continuing with her work on other projects that do not concern fanfiction, and unless you can convince her otherwise, she never will again, unless she suddenly gets a urge to.

Thank You

Editor

Due To popular demand, the author is thinking about continuing the story. I have also read the reviews, and believe that, unlike the author, this story really has some dedicated fans out there. I happen to know that she has writen the first 4 chapters of the squeal that I think you will enjoy, but it will be rated M, so please do not blame the author if you find it inappropriate.


	27. Chapter 26

**Sorry for Taking so long to write this chapter. Sorry if you hate it. I know, it's not my best work, but I was stuck. **

**ON WITH THE STORY**

Look Before You Seek

Chapter 26

Aelita stood on the cold, cement floor, shivering slightly as a draft blew past her. If she had been paying any attention to detail, she might have thought it was strange that a draft was blowing through a closed area, but her mind was elsewhere. She was waiting for Jeremie's signal to step into the scanner. She wondered whether the anti-virus would work as she shivered again. Aelita was brought back to reality by sneezing. She was shocked. She hadn't sneezed before, not that she could remember. But she had very little memory of her life before the super computer was turned back on by Jeremie.

She was suddenly aware of how cold it was in the room. But she didn't have much time to dwell on it, as she heard Jeremie's voice echoing around the scanner room. "Okay, Aelita, ready to scan." Aelita stepped into the scanner, and it closed before she turned around. Inside the scanner, it was eerily quiet. The scanner then lit up, and a fierce wind blew around her, and then there was nothing. It felt like she was flying through space, falling through time. It was relaxing, and she forgot everything that had been plaguing her mind. She just felt completely and utterly calm.

To Aelita, it lasted close to an eternity, but in reality, it only lasted a few minutes. Although it didn't last long, and it was a very relaxing experience, Aelita was completely drained. She collapsed out of her scanner, but wasn't out for very long. Jeremie came down to look for her just as she was waking up. Jeremie seemed certain that it had worked, and escorted her up to turn off the super computer.

"No, wait," Aelita exclaimed when they had arrived at the control centre of the super computer.

"Wait for what, Aelita?" Jeremie asked, puzzled.

"We should do this with the others," she said. It would be more meaningful if they all did it together, as the Lyoko Warriors. Jeremie saw that too. He left to ring them up.

Meanwhile, Ulrich, who had gone back to his dormitory, was writing in his diary. Well, he wasn't really writing, as more he was sitting at his desk, pen in hand, book open on table, staring into space, and thinking. He hadn't written in it for a long time, and he had a lot to write. But he didn't want to write. He just wanted to think.

Minnie, on the other hand, was scribbling furiously. Sitting in a tree, she was writing her journal as a third person, and changed all the names, so it was more like a story than a journal. It didn't have an ending yet, but it would take her some time to reach that point.

Odd was still in the Lunch room, hoping for an early lunch. His stomach was growling, but the lunch room was empty. He decided to go and get something from the vending machines. He didn't have much money left, but he didn't know that, as he rarely checked his savings.

Yumi was walking to Kadic. Why she was doing such a thing on Sunday is unknown to me, and to tell you want she was thinking at that moment would almost be impossible. She reached the school gates and looked around before entering. There were a few people around the grounds, but she had not noticed one figure looking at her in the school from beside the vending machines.

Odd dialled a few numbers into his phone, and then brought it to his ear. Ulrich's mobile barely rung once before he answered it. "Hello?" came Ulrich's tired voice, trying to sound curious, but failing.

"Yumi's at school!" Odd could barely contain his excitement as he tried to whisper. Hearing these words, Ulrich's dreariness faded instantly.

"What's she doing here?"

"I'm not sure." Odd said, sounding like a suspicious detective. "I'm going to follow her, and see where she goes."

"Odd, I don't think it's really any of our business." Ulrich argued weakly. He was curious to know where she was going too.

"Oh, come on. What if she's going to try something to the super computer? She's been acting horrible to us, maybe she wants to sabotage us?"

"I don't think Yumi would do that," Ulrich said, sighing. "Fine, follow her. Just remember, it was your idea, not mine."

"Fine." And he quickly hung up. Little did either of them know that they had sabotaged themselves, as this phone call had blocked Jeremie's attempted call to both of them, forcing him to call Yumi.

Yumi, who took Jeremie's call without thinking, heard that Aelita was free from the super computer. She didn't want to be angry with them anymore, but she didn't want to see Ulrich. She was glad to hear that he was unable to get through to Ulrich, and that he wasn't going to ask Minnie. He didn't really like her that much, and he didn't feel that she was really part of the group. She was reluctant to go to the factory, because she had had other plans, but she knew this was important to Aelita, and she was finished being angry with her best friend. She wanted to be there for her.

Unknown to Yumi, Odd was following her to the factory. Unknown to Odd, her intentions where strictly honourable. But since they were both oblivious, they were both quick to jump to the wrong conclusion.

Aelita and Jeremie were waiting for Yumi in the control room, and greeted her as they might have before the incident when she arrived. They were all unaware of Odd listening to their conversation through the door.

"Are you ready?" Jeremie asked.

"Shouldn't we wait a bit longer?" Aelita asked.

"I told you I couldn't reach them. Why else should we wait?"

"You could try again." Aelita was very stubborn. She wanted all the Lyoko Warriors there. Of course, Odd didn't know this.

"We should do this now," Yumi countered. "Before something goes wrong."

"Okay." Aelita said, reluctantly.

Unseen to Odd, all three placed their hands on the large switch. They were just about to pull down, when Odd revealed himself from his hiding place. He launched into his theory before letting himself see the situation around him.

"So you're all in on it, are you? Have you got some sort of club or something? Why didn't you tell us or anything? What's this all about?" It was only after Odd had finished his lecture that he let himself see his surroundings. He was shocked, and so was everyone else. Yumi was the first to recover.

"What? What are you doing here? Jeremie said he couldn't reach you! How did… Were you following me? Why would you do that?" After a few seconds, a look of realization came over her face. "Ulrich set you up to this, didn't he? He's so childish. You all are. I hate all of you." She fled from the factory before anyone could comprehend what had happened.

"What's happening?" Odd asked in a small voice, completely out of character.

"We cured Aelita's virus. We were going to try and get all the warriors to turn it off. Yumi wouldn't come if Ulrich was here, and we couldn't get through to you or Ulrich, so…" Jeremie trailed off, but he didn't need to continue. Odd realized what was happening, and what he had caused.

"I guess it doesn't matter anymore," Aelita said, as she pulled the switch off. X.A.N.A. was destroyed, as, even though he was out of the super computer, he was still connected to it. Lyoko was destroyed, and the super computer, disabled. Yumi was gone. Ulrich, Odd, Aelita and Jeremie were still friends, but Minnie was still an outcast. Maybe she always would be.

_The End… Or is it?_

**Don't forget! The story continues in You Can Run, But You Can't Hide.**


End file.
